Lviv University and the History of International Law: Unveiling of a Plaque Commemorating Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael Lemkin

We invite you to the unveiling of a memorial plaque to Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael (Rafal) Lemkin that marks their studies at the Faculty of Law of Lviv University and their contribution to the foundations of contemporary international law.

The unveiling will take place at the university building that today houses the Faculty of Biology and the Faculty of Geology, but which was historically the main building of Lviv University. Between 1851 and 1923, it was here that the university's Faculty of Law trained generations of jurists — among them two students whose ideas would go on to reshape international law.

In the early twentieth century, Hersch Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin each passed through these lecture halls, studying criminal law under Professor Julius Makarewicz. Lauterpacht, who was enrolled from 1915 to 1919, would go on to develop the modern legal concept of crimes against humanity. Lemkin, a student from 1921 to 1926, coined the term genocide. Both concepts entered the courtroom for the first time at the Nuremberg Trial in 1945, and both remain foundational to international law today.

Among other renowned lawyers connected to the Law Faculty of Lviv University were Maurycy Allerhand, Roman Longchamps de Bérier, Jan Karski, Manfred Lachs, Louis Sohn and Stanisław Starzyński.

This will not be the city's first tribute to lawyers connected to the city and its university. In 2017, memorial plaques to Rafael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht were unveiled on 21 Zamarstynivska Street and 6 Teatralna Street respectively. The new plaque adds to this memory by marking the place where their thinking on international law began: the university's Faculty of Law.

The ceremony is an initiative of Philippe Sands, author of "East West Street," carried out in cooperation with Lviv City Council, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, the Center for Urban History and the Dnistrianskyi Centre for Law and Politics. It forms part of the wider program marking ten years since the book's publication.

Co-organizers:

• Lviv City Council
• Ivan Franko Lviv National University
• Center for Urban History (CUH)
• Dnistrianskyi Centre for Law and Politics