Leopold Wenger (4 September 1874 – 21 September 1953) was a prominent Austrian historian of ancient law. He fostered interdisciplinary study of the ancient world (including law, literature, papyri, and inscriptions).

Biography

Wenger was born in his maternal grandparents' castle Trabuschgen in

Obervellach Obervellach ( sl, Zgornja Bela) is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The town is situated in the valley of the Möll river, on the southern slope of the High Tauern mountain range ...

(Austria) in 1874. He discovered a love for the study of Latin and Ancient Greek in secondary school. He went on to study law at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

, where he became interested in ancient law.Nörr, “Leopold Wenger,” p. 270. After completing his doctorate in 1897, he continued his studies at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

under Ludwig Mitteis.Sauter, “Pionier,” p. 102. He then returned to the

to write his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

. In 1902, he became associate professor at the University of Graz. He went on to teach at the Universities of Vienna, Graz, Heidelberg, and Munich. In 1935 he left

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

) to return to the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

(where he retired early three years later). A devoted

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and humanist, he was at odds with the Nazi regime first in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and then, after the ''Anschluss'', in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where he withdrew to his castle in

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Contributions

At the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, he founded the Seminar for Papyrus Research. In 1915 he also established the monograph series entitled ''Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung'' (“Munich Contributions to Papyrus Research”) and in 1922 expanded the remit of the series to ''Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und Antiken Rechstgeschichte'' ("Munich Contributions to Papyrus Research and Ancient Legal History”) which now has over 100 volumes. In 1953 he also published his most well-known book ''Die Quellen des römischen Rechts'' (''The Sources of Roman Law''). Throughout his career, he wrote, edited, or co-edited thirty books and also authored 88 articles.

Recognition

Wenger received honorary doctorates from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and the

and was a member of the Bavarian Academy of Science and the

Prussian Academy of Science The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

. The legal history division of the law school of the

was renamed the

Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research The Leopold Wenger Institute for Ancient Legal History and Papyrus Research is an institute of the law school of the University of Munich. It traces itself back to the Seminar for Papyrus Research founded by Professor Leopold Wenger in 1909 (which ...

in his honor in 1956, under the direction of

Wolfgang Kunkel Wolfgang Kunkel (1902-1981) was a prominent German historian of Roman law, who stressed the importance of Roman social history in understanding Roman law and institutions. Born in Fürth, Germany, Kunkel studied law and history at the Goethe Univ ...

(and Wenger's large library became the core of that institute's collections).Sauter, “Pionier,” p. 104.

Biography

Contributions

Recognition

References

Further reading