Raphael Lemkin
24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959
Raphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent who coined the term genocide and campaigned for its recognition as a crime under international law. His work was central to the adoption of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Raphael Lemkin.
- A. Philip Randolph (1889–1979) Overlapped 59 years →
- Alice Paul (1885–1977) Overlapped 59 years →
- Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960) Overlapped 59 years →
- Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) Overlapped 59 years →
- Buster Keaton (1895–1966) Overlapped 59 years →
- C. V. Raman (1888–1970) Overlapped 59 years →
Life events
Raphael Lemkin was born into a Jewish family in the Russian Empire, in an area now in Belarus.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe studied law and philology, developing an early interest in mass atrocities.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe practiced law and served as a prosecutor before fleeing Poland at the outbreak of war.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and eventually reached the United States, joining Duke University.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe introduced the word genocide in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe lectured on international law while continuing to promote ratification of the Genocide Convention.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis advocacy led the United Nations to adopt the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRaphael Lemkin died in relative poverty and obscurity in New York.
Source: en.wikipedia.org