I. THE PERSON

Leon Petrażycki (1861-1931), a legal theorist and sociologist, came from the Polish gentry of the Witebsk area, a territory historically Polish, but then—and now—a part of Russia. After preliminary studies as a medical student, he turned to the study of law at the universities in Kiev, St. Petersburg, Heidelberg, Berlin, Paris, and London. He received a master's degree in Roman Law from the University of Kiev and a doctorate in Law from the University of St. Petersburg. In 1897 Petrażycki became a professor at the University of St. Petersburg; he was quickly promoted to the rank of full professor and subsequently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law—the first, in Russia, to be democratically elected to that position. He became a Member of the Russian Parliament (DUMA) and later spent some time in prison as a result of his political activities. During his twenty years in St. Petersburg, Petrażycki published several books on such subjects as political economy, private international law, civil law, psychology, and matters dealing with the relation between law, morals, and the state. Many of these books (written in Russian) were controversial and stimulated much discussion and response in Russia. A brief bibliography is contained in Appendix A.