Hans Kelsen

Hans Kelsen (Prague, October 11, 1881 – April 19, 1973) was an Austrian -American jurist of Jewish descent.

Vienna: 1883-1930

He moved to Vienna with his family when he was two years old. He studied law at the University of Vienna, taking his doctorate in 1906. In 1911, he achieved his habilitation (license to hold university lectures) in public law and legal philosophy and published his first major work, Main Problems in the Theory of Public Law (Hauptprobleme der Staatsrechtslehre).

Related Topics:
Vienna - Law - University of Vienna - Doctorate - 1906 - 1911 - Habilitation - Public law - Legal philosophy

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In 1912, Kelsen married Margarete Bondi, and the couple had 2 daughters.

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In 1919, he became full professor of public and administrative law at the University of Vienna. He established and edited the Journal of Public Law (Zeitschrift für Öffentliches Recht) in Vienna. At the behest of Chancellor Karl Renner, Kelsen worked on drafting of new Austrian Constitution, enacted in 1920. The document still forms the basis of Austrian constitutional law to this day. Kelsen was appointed to the Constitutional Court, for life term. In 1925, he published General Political Theory (Allgemeine politische Theorie) in Berlin.

Related Topics:
1919 - Professor - Administrative law - Karl Renner - Austrian Constitution - 1920 - 1925

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Following increasing political controversy about some positions of the Constitutional Court (especially about divorce) and an increasingly conservative climate, Kelsen, who was considered being a social democrat although not being a party member, was removed from the court in 1930.

Related Topics:
Social democrat - 1930

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