Educated at the Universities of Berlin, Gottingen, Heidelberg and Leipzig, Oppenheim received his PhD in law from Gottingen in 1881. He then proceeded to complete an habilitation at the University of Freiburg. In 1889, he became extraordinary professor of law. In 1891, he moved to Basel and was professor of law at the University there. Specializing in criminal law, Oppenheim produced numerous papers during his time there and developed an international reputation. in 1895, he moved to England for health reasons and began to focus his energy on international law. In 1898, he began a lectureship at the London School of Economics where he continued until being appointed to the Whewell chair of International Law at Cambridge University in 1908. He had become a British citizen in 1900 and in spite of his Germanic background, was a staunch supporter of British efforts in the First World War. During the war he became a member of the American Institute of International Law and provided numerous pamphlets, manuals and papers on international legal subjects. He also held memberships in the Institut de Droit Internationale in France and the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence i Madrid. The war took its toll on his health and in 1919, he died at his Cambridge home. Oppenheim is regarded as the father of international law.His many works include Die Nebenklage (1889), International Law (1905-06), International Incidents (1909), The Future of International Law (1912), The Panama Canal Conflict (1913) and The League of Nations and Its Problems (1919). |
