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Creator
Lemkin, Raphael, 1900-1959
Call number
MssCol 1730
Physical description
2 linear feet (5 boxes); 5 microfilm reels
Language
Materials in English, Spanish and German
Preferred Citation

Raphael Lemkin papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959), a Polish-born lawyer who coined the term "genocide", emigrated to the U.S. in 1941 and devoted his life to the crusade for the international adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Collection consists of correspondence, drafts of an autobiography, draft of a history of genocide, and research notes and printed materials relating to genocide throughout the world. Correspondence with public officials, newspapers, academics, and religious groups relates to Lemkin's struggle for support for the ratification of the genocide convention. Autobiographical writings include outlines and summaries of his autobiography as well as typescript drafts of several chapters. Genocide writings contain descriptions of his projected three-volume work on genocide, plus drafts of various chapters, and abundant notes, memoranda, reports, and other documents written by Lemkin and others on the subject of genocide and the struggle for ratification of the convention. Printed materials include press releases and United Nations publications and reports.

Biographical/historical information

Raphael Lemkin was an attorney and professor of law who coined the term "genocide" and was responsible for the creation of the United Nations genocide convention. He was born in Eastern Poland on June 24, 1901. He studied philology, mastered nine languages, served as Warsaw's public prosecutor, and practiced and taught law until 1939, when the Nazi invasion forced him to flee to Sweden. In 1941, Lemkin emigrated to the United States on the invitation of the Duke University School of Law and was later associated with the Yale Law School. During the 1940s and 1950s he devoted most of his energy to the cursade for the international adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted by the U. N. General Assembly in 1948. He continued to lobby for unanimous ratification. Although the United States failed to ratify the convention, it became international law in January 1951. Lemkin never married and died of a heart attack in 1959.

Scope and arrangement

The Papers largely document Lemkin's intense interest in the subject of genocide. With the exception of a draft of his autobiography, "Unofficial Man", the collection contains very little personal material. The papers are arranged into eight series: Correspondence, Photographs, Bio- and Autobiographical sketches; Public statements & Interviews, Writings - Autobiography, Writings - Genocide, Clippings, and Printed material. The correspondence in English, Spanish, and some German, is both incoming and outgoing, with public officials, newspapers, academics and religious groups and relates to Lemkin's struggle for support for the ratification of the genocide convention. Much of the correspondence is filed by country. The Writings - Autobiography consist of outlines and summaries of "Unofficial Man" as well as holograph and typescript drafts of several chapters. The Writing - Genocide contain descriptions of his projected three volume work on genocide, plus drafts of various chapters, and abundant notes, memoranda, reports, and other documents written by Lemkin and others on the subject of genocide and the struggle for the ratification of the convention. Much of this material is fragmentary. The Printed material includes press releases and United Nations publications and reports.

The Raphael Lemkin papers are arranged in eight series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

August 31, 1982, Received from Alexander Gabriel

Processing information

Accessioned by SD/MY, June 1983/March 1987

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Alternative form available

Entire collection available on microfilm; New York Public Library; *ZL-273

Additional resources