Pekelis, Alexander H. 1902-1946

Alexander Haim Pekelis (April 1902 – December 28, 1946) was a jurist, scholar and activist. He lived and was educated throughout Europe in his early life, and was a jurist in pre-fascist Italy before moving to France in 1938 and to the United States in 1941. He became the first foreign-born Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review. Despite his short time in the United States before his untimely death in 1946 at the age of 44, he left his mark on modern United States jurisprudence, his work advocating and foretelling the role social sciences would come to play in deciding legal issues. Pekelis died in a plane crash in Ireland, at age 44. After his death, his scholarly works and theories were discussed by the Karl E. Meyer, Max Ascoli and Milton R. Konvitz among others.