Adolf Berger
Adolf Berger (March 1, 1882 Lviv - April 8, 1962 Bronx) was a Polish lawyer, and classicist.
Life
[edit]He graduated from a classical gymnasium and studied in Lviv at the Franciscan University . He obtained a doctorate in both laws in 1907 sub summis auspiciis Imperatoris. Then, thanks to a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Education , he studied at the University of Berlin with Bernhard Kübler and Paul M. Meyer in 1908–1909.[1]
In 1914, he was accepted as a libero docente at the Faculty of Law of the University of Rome ; his inaugural lecture took place on 21 November of that year . Due to political tensions during World War I between Italy and Austria-Hungary, Adolf Berger, as an Austrian citizen, was forced to leave Rome; in 1917–1918 he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After the war, he worked from 1919 to 1938 as a secretary and legal advisor at the consulate in Vienna. He devoted his free time to academic work on Roman law . He married the Austrian singer Malva Sereny on 12 July 1938 (she died in 1959 in Italy).[2]
Due to the Nazis coming to power in Austria, he left Vienna with his wife for Paris , then lived in Toulouse and Nice He unsuccessfully applied for employment at the University of Edinburgh . During World War II he continued his academic work . and arrived with his wife in the United States on February 20, 1942. From 1942 he taught Roman law, Greek papyrology, and the Byzantine Empire in French at the École libre des hautes études in New York until 1957.[3] He was accepted to the City College of New York as a visiting professor , where he taught Roman law for the rest of his life. [1]
He was a member of the Polish Institute of Science in America , a foreign member of the National Academy of Rysiów-Ostrowidzów in Rome . He was active in the Jewish community in New York City.
Works
[edit]- Berger, Adolf (2016-10-23). "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law : Adolf Berger : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
References
[edit]- 1 2 Fryde, Matthew M. (1962). "Adolf Berger 1882-1962". The Polish Review. 7 (3): 3–15. ISSN 0032-2970.
- ↑ Jońca, Maciej (2016-12-21). "„PRZYJAZNY CUDZOZIEMIEC". UCIECZKA I DŁUGA DROGA ADOLFA BERGERA DO STANÓW ZJEDNOCZONYCH (1938-1942)". Zeszyty Prawnicze. 11 (1): 117. doi:10.21697/zp.2011.11.1.07. ISSN 2353-8139.
- ↑ Briggs, Ward. "BERGER, Adolf". Database of Classical Scholars | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
