LAWYER

Raphael Lemkin

1900 - 1959

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Raphael Lemkin (Polish: Rafał Lemkin; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is known for coining the term "genocide" and for campaigning to establish the Genocide Convention, which legally defines the act. Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he fled the country and sought asylum in the United States, where he became an academic at Duke University and campaigned vigorously to raise international awareness of the atrocities that were being committed by the Axis powers across occupied Europe. It was amidst this environment of World War II that Lemkin coined the term "genocide" to describe Nazi Germany's extermination policy. As a young Jewish law student who was deeply conscious of antisemitism and the persecution of Jews, Lemkin learned about the Ottoman genocide of the Armenian people during World War I and was deeply disturbed by the absence of international provisions to charge and punish those who were responsible for organizing and executing it. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Raphael Lemkin is the 25th most popular lawyer (down from 17th in 2019), the 28th most popular biography from Belarus and the most popular Belarusian Lawyer.

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Among LAWYERS

Among lawyers, Raphael Lemkin ranks 25 out of 136. Before him are Roy Cohn, Tribonian, Bill Gates Sr., Navi Pillay, Carla Del Ponte, and Muhammad al-Shaybani. After him are Peter Benenson, Al-Tahawi, Al-Mawardi, Irnerius, Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and Kiki Camarena.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1900, Raphael Lemkin ranks 56. Before him are Edith Frank, Pridi Banomyong, Pedro Cea, Thomas Wolfe, Howard H. Aiken, and Jean Negulesco. After him are Mária Telkes, Charley Paddock, Maurice Thorez, W. Edwards Deming, Herberts Cukurs, and Yves Tanguy. Among people deceased in 1959, Raphael Lemkin ranks 35. Before him are Mike Hawthorn, Enrico De Nicola, Edmond Debeaumarché, Jose P. Laurel, Carlos Saavedra Lamas, and Wanda Landowska. After him are Alfred Kubin, Arthur Cecil Pigou, Edward C. Tolman, John Foster Dulles, Ichirō Hatoyama, and Mario Lanza.

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In Belarus

Among people born in Belarus, Raphael Lemkin ranks 28 out of 368. Before him are Isser Harel (1912), Alexander Parvus (1867), Pavel Sukhoi (1895), Stanislav Shushkevich (1934), Zhores Alferov (1930), and Yakub Kolas (1882). After him are Mstislav I of Kiev (1076), Sophia of Minsk (1140), Bronislav Kaminski (1899), Maria Kaczyńska (1942), Vilna Gaon (1720), and Marek Edelman (1922).

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Among LAWYERS In Belarus

Among lawyers born in Belarus, Raphael Lemkin ranks 1. 

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