EHRLICH, EUGEN

EHRLICH, EUGEN (1862–1922), jurist. Born in Czernowitz, Ehrlich was associate professor of Roman Law in the university there from 1899 to 1914. In this capacity he made an important contribution to the study of the sociology of law, his thesis being that the law of society was the only "living law" and that the norms of a legal system must conform with the laws of society. Ehrlich was removed from all teaching posts in 1919 following antisemitic attacks by the student body in the nationalist press. His main works were translated into English and had a profound influence on American legal and sociological thought in the 20th century. These include Grundlegung der Soziologie des Rechts (1913, Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law, 1936). Although Ehrlich renounced Judaism in his youth he became interested in Jewish affairs in his later years and his treatise Die Aufgabe der Sozialpolitik im oesterreichischen Osten (1916) discusses the question of the Jews and the peasants. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Sinzheimer, Juedische Klassiker der deutschen Rechtswissenschaft (1938), 231–55. (Guido (Gad) Tedeschi)