Fritz Schulz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fritz Schulz (June 16, 1879 – November 12, 1957) was a German jurist and legal historian. He was one of the 20th centuries' most important scholars in the field of Roman Law. The Nazis forced him to leave Germany and to emigrate to England due to his political stance and his Jewish origin.
Contents |
[edit] Life
Born in Bolesławiec, Poland, then called Bunzlau, Schulz' parents were of Jewish descent, but had converted to Christianity. Schulz grew up in his native town in Lower Silesia and studied law in Berlin from 1899 to 1902, whe he passed the First State Examination in Law. He received the grade of Doctor iuris from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau in 1905. In the same year, Schulz obtained the habilitation. In 1910, Schulz was appointed to a full professorship in Innsbruck, Austria. From Innsbruck, Schulz moved on to posts in Kiel (1912), Goettingen (1916) and Bonn (1923). During his time in Goettingen, Schulz actively supported the Deutsche Demokratische Partei, a left-oft-center liberal party, which was among the staunchest supporters of the fragile democratic system in Germany.
In 1931, Schulz accepted a call to the University of Berlin. At the time, a professorship in Berlin was considered the most prestigious post a legal scholar could achieve in his career.
However, Schulz's brilliant academic career was brutally interrupted when it had just reached its peak. In 1934, Schulz was forcefully transferred to the University of Frankfurt am Main and then forced into retirement in 1935. In spite of this, Schulz stayed in Germany. Only in 1939 he emigrated, first to the Netherlands and then to Oxford. In Oxford, Schulz managed to survive due to financial support from Oxford University Press.
Schulz did not return to Germany after the war. In 1947, he became a British subject. Schulz did, however, give a series of guest lectures at German universities after the war.
In 1949 received an honorary doctorate from the University of Frankfurt am Main. He was honoured with a Festschrift at the occasion of his 70th birthday. Schulz also became Honorary Professor a the University of Bonn (1951) and member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome (1952). He died at Oxford.
Werner Flume, one of Germany's most influential jurists in the second half of the 20th century, is a pupil of Fritz Schulz.
[edit] Scholarly achievements
Schulz is best known today for his vivid and very readable works on Roman law and Roman legal science. Even though he followed the prevalent scientific trend of his day and tended to assume a large number of interpolations in the Roman texts, his contributions are still valuable and are cited frequently. His System der Rechte auf den Eingriffserwerb", an early article from 1909, is still seen as an important contribution to the German Law of Unjustified Enrichment today.
[edit] Works
- "System der Rechte auf den Eingriffserwerb". In: Archiv für die civilistische Praxis. Vol. 105 (1909) 1 sqq. (entire volume) (Schulz's only contribution to modern law, still a classic in the field of unjustified enrichment).
- Principles of Roman Law. Oxord 1936 (the English text of the last series of lectures Schulz gave in 1933 before the Nazis prohibited him to continue teaching).
- Classical Roman Law. Oxford 1951. Reprinted Aalen 1992, ISBN 3-511-09224-8.
- History of Roman Legal Science. Oxford 1953.
[edit] Literature
Wolfgang Ernst: Fritz Schulz (1879-1957). In: Jack Beatson, Reinhard Zimmermann (Eds.): Jurists Uprooted. German speaking Emigré Lawyers in Twentieth-century Britain. Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-927058-9. PP. 105-203.
