JENS EVALD Alf Ross a life DJØF PUBLISHING
Alf Ross A life
Jens Evald Alf Ross A life DJØF Publishing 2014
Jens Evald Alf Ross a life First edition 2014 DJØF Publishing Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Print: AKAPRINT, Tilst Printed in Denmark 2014 ISBN 978-87-574-9741-0 Published with Support from Margot og Thorvald Dreyers Fond Sold and distributed in Scandinavia by DJØF Publishing Copenhagen, Denmark Email: forlag@djoef.dk www.djoef-forlag.dk Sold and distributed in North America by International Specialized Book Services (ISBS) Email: orders@isbs.com www.isbs.com Sold in all other countries by The Oxford Publicity Partnership Ltd Email: djof@oppuk.co.uk www.oppuk.co.uk Distributed in all other countries by Marston Book Services Email: trade.orders@marston.co.uk www.marston.co.uk
Foreword Foreword This is the story of Alf Ross, one of the founding fathers of the so-called Scandinavian legal realism. Alf Ross was born June 10 1899 in Copenhagen and he was 15 years of age in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War, 45 years of age in 1945 when the Second World War ended, 69 years of age on the outbreak of the youth revolt in 1968, and 73 years of age when Denmark joined the European Community (EC). It is this eighty-year-period that is the frame for the book on Alf Ross. On the surface, the life of Alf Ross was a fairy tale; at least he had to go through an awful lot of hardship both in relation to love and work before he became an internationally known and recognized philosopher and legal scholar. But the story of Alf Ross is not a fairy tale. It is the story about a man s struggle to greatness and the consequences of such a struggle in his relationship with other people including his spouse. It is this story that is told in the book on Alf Ross. The book is based on written sources and a small number of interviews. The written sources include diaries, letters, books, newspaper articles written about and by Else-Merete and Alf Ross. Many thanks to Alf Ross son and daughter, Strange and Lone Ross, who without reservation have placed family photos and other material at my disposal and answered questions on family matters. Most of the family pictures have been taken by Alf Ross son Ulrik Ross, now Arrow Ross, artist and photographer living in Wilmington, North Carolina. Margot and Thorvald Dryer s Fond the book is now published in English. I am very grateful. The book has been translated from Danish into English by Sarah Pedersen, Professor of Communication and Media at The Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and Frederik Pedersen, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at The University of Aberdeen. Thank you both. A special thanks to my long time publisher at DJØF Publishing, Vivi Antonsen, who is now retiring. Aarhus, Denmark June 2014 Jens Evald 5
Index Foreword... 5 rod o e ro o e... 13 Do I dare?... 13 The sources... 15 About this book... 17 er e r e... 23 The family and the inheritance... 23 Childhood and school... 28 The study of law... 31 His circle of friends and his spiritual crisis... 34 A spiritual crisis... 37 The smile... 39 The trip with Stephan Hurwitz... 41 Berlin... 41 Duzio... 43 Ich bin Däne... 44 Doubt and marriage... 46 The ball at Inga s... 46 The cancelled wedding... 49 Hotel de Londres, Paris... 52 Illness... 54 Waiting period... 55 Wedding... 58 er r e o do d er... 59 Paris... 59 Cursus honorum... 59 Rue Linné... 60 7
Index Vienna... 62 Landfall... 62 The letter to Frederik Vinding Kruse... 64 An available standpoint... 67 Hans Kelsen... 69 The Vienna School and the Circle of Vienna... 74 Contract with the devil... 75 We hammer the keys... 75... 78 er e o... 81 The thesis is rejected... 81 The condemned thesis... 81 The evaluation... 83 Behind the evaluation... 86 Years of struggle... 87 The nervous breakdown... 87 The turning-point... 89 Salvation... 97 er r e or d e... 103 Swedish doctor... 103 The doctoral defence in Uppsala... 103 Assistant at the Faculty of Law and Political Science... 106 Jurist or philosopher?... 109... 112 The accusations of plagiarism... 112 The law thesis... 114 Gunnar Myrdal... 115 The accusations against Frederik Vinding Kruse... 118 A Dane returned from Åre... 121 The doctoral thesis is accepted for defence... 123 Kelsen, Hägerström and Vinding Kruse... 125 Bent Schultzer... 130 Victory and defeat... 132 Docent and falling in love... 132 Professor of International Law... 137 er e er re ee... 141..................................... 141 8
Index The Kolbenhoff period... 141 Walter Kolbenhoff... 142 Walter Kolbenhoff and the reconstruction of Germany... 146 Alf Ross and Walter Kolbenhoff... 146 Else-Merete Ross travels around Germany... 150 The literary witness... 152 er r o d e o r... 155 The war... 155 The Occupation... 155 Textbook in international law... 156 Vinding Kruse s contribution to the study of legal sources... 157 Frederik Vinding Kruse and the war... 159 Vinding Kruse and Nazism... 163 International law and post-war trials... 165 Denmark as an allied combatant in the war?... 165 Legal science contacts are resumed... 168 The journal case... 171 Social Democrat... 174 Why I vote for the Social Democrat party... 174 Why democracy?... 179 er o w orw d e o r e o er... 185 Oslo... 185 The philosophy of law in Norway... 185 Oslo is a strange mixture of provincial town and Americanisation. 187 A ski trip to Fagernes... 189 My joy and the greatness of redemption... 190 Wanderlust... 190 The journey to America... 190 Paris and the plan of the great journey... 190 The purpose of the voyage to America... 192 Currency problems... 194 Departure... 195 The round trip... 197 The journey home... 201 The sporting modern professor... 203 Else-Merete returns home... 205 9
Index er oder o o o w or ed e e od... 207 It s about morals... 207 Thus passes the vanity of the world... 207 An old-fashioned jurisprudence... 208... 211... 211... 214 The development of the prediction theory of law... 217 Received wisdom or originality?... 224 Scandinavian Realism... 226 Vilhelm Lundstedt... 226 Karl Olivecrona... 228 Ingemar Hedenius... 231 Polemics and Theodor Geiger... 232 Tradition and the modern philosophy of law... 235 er e ere e o... 239 Self-analysis... 239 Life and work.............................................. 241 Childhood and youth... 241 Life as an adult... 244 The women s movement and friendship... 248 The Danish Women s Association... 248 Birgitta Ek... 252 The Parliamentarian... 257 The pensioner... 265 er e o de e... 267 Travels... 267 San Cataldo... 267 Skiing trip to Norway and conference in Italy... 269 On Law and Justice... 274 University of Illinois...................................... 278 Constitutional law... 282 A sea-change in constitutional law... 282 The Iceland sagas... 287 Special government advisor and easy money... 293 The Provincial Chamber of Commerce... 296 Legal philosophy and the international network... 300 10
Index Alf Ross and the international network... 300 Herbert Hart and Richard M. Hare... 303 Court of Human Rights judge... 310 er... 317 Goodbye to the university... 317 The letter from Ulrik Ross... 317 Farewell speeches and farewell conversations... 320 The youth revolt... 322 Legal Philosophy and criminal law... 325 Legal Philosophy and the new era... 325 Criminal law... 327 A book dedication with consequences... 329 Social commentator... 331... 331 A greeting to Fanny Hill... 332 Alf Ross and the EC... 334 Berufsverbot... 336 The role as a mentor and an academic paragon... 337 Mentor................................................. 337 The trip to Norway... 340 Nils Kristian Sundby... 341 Life and death... 346 er w o or o r e o... 349 Credo... 349 Ija Lazari-Pawlowska... 352 That was it. Thank you for your attention... 354 o e... 359 11