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 tea ...

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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

that was then part of the

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, 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 held ...

(Ridvaz). In 1915, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, becoming a citizen in 1926. He studied at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, 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 ...

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. Altho ...

, where he was one of three assistant general counsels to

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

Academic career

Konvitz was a professor in Cornell's Law School and a founding faculty member of

School of Industrial and Labor Relations The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University (ILR) is an industrial relations school and one of the four New York State contract colleges at Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, United States. The ...

. 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 Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...

, 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 James Alexander Adolphus Pierre (July 18, 1908 – April 22, 1980) was the Chief Justice of Liberia#List of Chief Justices, 13th Chief Justice of Liberia, Chief Justice of Liberia, serving from 1971 until his death in 1980. He had previously serve ...

of the Supreme Court of Liberia, 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 Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. 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 (OECD), based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he lives with his wife, Isa. Their sons, Eli and Ezra, live in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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