Raphael Lemkin lived an extraordinary life of struggle and hardship, yet altered international law and redefined the world’s understanding of group rights. He invented the concept and word “genocide” and propelled the idea into international legal status and was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr Donna-Lee Frieze in conversation with Pam Maclean about her new book: Totally Unofficial: The Autobiography of Raphael Lemkin.
Although Lemkin died alone and in poverty, he left behind a model for a life of activism, a legacy of major contributions to international law, and—not least—an unpublished autobiography. Presented here for the first time is his own account of his life, from his boyhood on a small farm in Poland with his Jewish parents, to his perilous escape from Nazi Europe, through his arrival in the United States and rise to influence as an academic, thinker, and revered lawyer of international criminal law.
Dr Donna-Lee Frieze taught a graduate unit on genocide at Deakin University in Melbourne, lectures frequently on the Holocaust and genocide, and is a 2013 – 2014 Prins Foundation Senior Scholar at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. She has digitized Lemkin’s entire autobiography, the original of which is held in the New York Public Library.
Pam Maclean, Honorary Fellow, Alfred Deakin Research Institute, Deakin University
Date: February 19, 2014
Start Time: 7:30 pm
Event Type: Book Launch
Venue: Melbourne Holocaust Museum
Address:
13-15 Selwyn St,
Elsternwick, Victoria,
3185.