Milton Ridbas Konvitz (March 12, 1908 – September 5, 2003) was a
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...
faculty member. He died September 5, 2003, at the age of 95.
Early life, education and early career
He was born in 1908 in
Safed, a city in what is now
Israel that was then part of the
vilayet of
Sidon of the
Ottoman Empire, and was the son of Rabbi
Joseph Konvitz and grandson of Rabbi
Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky
Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (February 7, 1845 – October 2, 1913), known by the acronym Ridvaz or Ridbaz, was a renowned rabbi, Talmudic commentator and educator.
Biography
Wilovsky was born in Kobrin, Russia on February 7, 1845.
Wilovsky hel ...
(Ridvaz). In 1915, he immigrated to the
United States, becoming a citizen in 1926. He studied at
New York University, where he received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...
in 1929 and in 1930 a law degree. In 1933, he received a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in philosophy from Cornell. Prior to joining Cornell's faculty, he worked at the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.
LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Alth ...
, where he was one of three assistant general counsels to
Thurgood Marshall.
Academic career
Konvitz was a professor in
Cornell's Law School and a founding faculty member of
School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He retired in 1973. He was an authority on constitutional and labor law, and on civil and human rights, coining the term "civil liberties." He was famous for teaching a class called American Ideals at Cornell for many years; it was based in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations and regularly drew enrollments in the many hundreds, with the eventual total exceeding over 8,000. Young Ruth Bader, later Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was one of those students.
Konvitz was one of the founders of Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies and of its Program of Jewish Studies. He and his wife, the former Mary Traub, often hosted Jewish students and others.
A professorship in his name was dedicated with funds from former students and others; Ross Brann is the current Milton Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies.
Liberian Codification Project
Working with
Chief Justice James A. A. Pierre of the
Supreme Court of Liberia
The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in the West African nation of Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia, who is also the top Judiciary official, and four associate justices, who are nominated by the P ...
, Konvitz, for nearly 30 years, drew up the body of statutory laws in the
Republic of Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. ...
. He also edited the opinions of Liberia's Supreme Court. As a token of thanks for his work he received the Grand Band of the Order of the Star of Africa, as well as an honorary degree from the
University of Liberia
The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Coll ...
.
Personal life
Konvitz was married for over 50 years to the former Mary Traub. Their son Josef was a senior official of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
(OECD), based in
Paris, where he lives with his wife, Isa. Their sons, Eli and Ezra, live in
Hong Kong and
London respectively, Eli a director at
W S Atkins and Ezra having co-founded ArtStack. Josef Konvitz retired from the OECD in 2011, and was a visiting professor at
King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...
.
Published works
* A Century of Civil Rights
* The Constitution and Civil Rights
* Fundamental Liberties of a Free People: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly
* The American Pragmatists : Selected Writings edited by Milton Ridvas Konvitz
* Judaism and Human Rights
* Fundamental Rights
* Emerson: A Collection of Critical Essays
* Torah and Constitution: Essays in American Jewish Thought
* The American Pragmatists, edited by Milton R. Konvitz and Gail Kennedy
* The Alien and the Asiatic in American Law
* Expanding Liberty: Freedom's Gains in Postwar America
* Religious Liberty
* Nine American Jewish Thinkers
* Bill of Rights Reader: Leading Constitutional Cases
* Judaism and the American Idea
* Civil Rights in Immigration
* The Legacy of Horace M. Kallen
* First Amendment Freedoms: Selected Cases on Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly
* On the Nature of Value: The Philosophy of Samuel Alexander
* Aspects of Liberty: Essays Presented to Robert E. Cushman, by Milton R. Konvitz and Clinton Rossiter
* The Recognition of Ralph Waldo Emerson
* Essays in Political Theory
* Liberian Code of Laws Revised
* Profane Religion and Sacred Law
Books and articles about
* Rights, Liberties, and Ideals: The Contributions of Milton R. Konvitz, by David Joseph Danelski
* Biography - Milton Ridvas Konvitz (1908–2003), from Contemporary Authors
* Milton R. Konvitz, z"l.: from Midstream
References
External links
Cornell News Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konvitz, Milton R.
1908 births
2003 deaths
People from Safed
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Cornell University faculty
Cornell University alumni
New York University School of Law alumni
20th-century American Jews
Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States