File:Hans_Kelsen_(1881–1973)_~1930_©_Georg_Fayer_(1892–1950)_OeNB_8026867.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Hans Kelsen was a lawyer, judge, philosopher, and university teacher born in Prague in 1881. He worked in the fields of law, legal theory, constitutional law, and international law. Kelsen was educated at the University of Vienna, Harvard University, Heidelberg University, and Akademisches Gymnasium. He taught at the University of Vienna, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cologne, and University of Geneva.
He authored works including *The Law of the United Nations*, *General Theory of Law and State*, *What Is Justice?*, *Pure Theory of Law*, and *Staat Als Integration*. Kelsen was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Institut de Droit International, and Austrian Academy of Sciences. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received the Ring of Honour of the City of Vienna and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art.
Kelsen held citizenship in Cisleithania, the United States, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. He spoke German and English. His religious affiliations included Judaism, Catholicism, and the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria. He died in Berkeley in 1973.
Synthesized by Vinony from 26 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 39
Top works
- The Law of the United Nations
- General Theory of Law and State
- What Is Justice?
- Pure Theory of Law
- Staat Als Integration
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1881-10-11 ) October 11, 1881, Prague , Austria-Hungary
- Died
- April 19, 1973 (1973-04-19) (aged 91), Berkeley, California , U.S.
- Education
- University of Vienna ( Dr. iur. , 1906; habilitation , 1911)
- Thesis
- Hauptprobleme der Staatsrechtslehre entwickelt aus der Lehre vom Rechtssätze (1911)
- Era
- 20th-century philosophy
- Region
- Western philosophy
- School
- Legal positivism
- Institutions
- University of Vienna , University of Cologne , Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies , University of California, Berkeley
- Doctoral students
- Eric Voegelin , Alfred Schütz
- Main interests
- Public law , International law , Philosophy of law
- Notable ideas
- Pure theory of law , Basic norm , Constitutional court
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Hans
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Czechoslovakia
- Place of birth
- Prague
- Place of death
- Berkeley
- Occupation
- university teacher
- Educated at
- Akademisches Gymnasium
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Doctoral student
- Alfred Schütz
- Field of work
- international law
- Official website
- www.hanskelsen.com
- Image
- Hans Kelsen (1881–1973) ~1930 © Georg Fayer (1892–1950) OeNB 8026867.jpg
- Work location
- Cologne
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Hans Kelsen
- date of birth
- 1881-10-11
- date of death
- 1973-04-20
- member of
- Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
- nominated for
- Nobel Peace Prize
- time period
- 20th-century philosophy
- writing language
- German
- P8168
- Elliant
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Hans Kelsen (/ˈkɛlsən/; German: [ˈhans ˈkɛlzən]; October 11, 1881 – April 19, 1973) was an Austrian and later American jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He is known principally for his theory of law, which he named the "pure theory of law (Reine Rechtslehre)", and for his writings on international law and theory of democracy.
The "pure theory" provides general foundations for value-independent description of law. As an expert in constitutional law, Kelsen was the principal architect of the 1920 Austrian Constitution, which, with amendments, remains in force.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hans Kelsen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.