Rheinstein, Max (1899–1977)

Max Rheinstein was one of the most prominent of the European refugee scholars who pioneered in establishing the comparative study of law in American law schools. Born in Bavaria a year before the German Civil Code went into effect, Rheinstein attended the University of Munich at a time of intellectual ferment in legal theory and private law. Among his teachers were two renowned scholars who had a lasting influence on his intellectual development: Max Weber (1864–1920) and Ernst Rabel (1874–1955). Rheinstein became Rabel's assistant in 1922, and shortly thereafter began teaching at the University of Berlin. As a Christian of Jewish descent, however, he was obliged to flee when the National Socialist regime came to power in 1933. He emigrated to the United States where ...