Sir Elihu Lauterpacht CBE QC LLD (1928-2017)
Elihu Lauterpacht was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1950. A renowned scholar and international lawyer, Master Lauterpacht died in February 2017 and bequeathed his personal international law library to Gray’s Inn.
“Gray’s Inn: the legal home of my father and myself.”
The Lauterpacht Collection
The Collection is made up of books, journals, law reports, pamphlets, off-prints, government publications and conference proceedings, all relating to international law. It is a significant new acquisition for the Library and an important supplement to its flagship international law collection.
Delivered to the Library in April 2018 and temporarily stored in the Library’s closed stack, the sorting and cataloguing of the Collection will be a major ongoing project. Search the Library catalogue to see which materials in the Collection have been added to the catalogue.
For further information about the Collection and for a report on the work-in-progress please see the Lauterpacht Collection update – March 2020 (PDF).
Life and work of Master Elihu Lauterpacht
- Called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn – 1950
- Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge – 1953
- Cambridge University Lecturer 1953-81
- Editor of the International Law Reports – 1957-2017
- Appointed Queen’s Counsel – 1970
- Legal Advisor to Australian Government – 1975-77
- Founded Grotius Publishing Imprint (later acquired by Cambridge University Press) – 1978
- Cambridge University Reader in International Law – 1981-88
- Founded the Research Centre for International Law (subsequently renamed The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law) – 1983
- Bencher of Gray’s Inn – 1983
- Appointed Commander of the British Empire – 1989
- Honorary Professor of International Law, Cambridge University – 1994
- President of World Bank Administrative Tribunal – 1996, 1998
- Knighted – 1998
A short but detailed obituary written by Master Stephen M Schwebel can be found in Graya No. 131 2018 (PDF).
Lauterpacht Reception and Exhibition
On the evening of Monday 19 November 2018 Gray’s Inn held a Reception to mark the receipt of the Lauterpacht Collection by the Library.
An exhibition was curated featuring a selection of items from Master Lauterpacht’s personal library, illustrating his life and work. Topics included:
- International Law after the Second World War
- The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- Israel and Jewish Identity
- The Law of Outer Space
- Anglo-Iranian Oil
- International Arbitration
- The World Bank
A commemorative exhibition booklet (PDF) has also been prepared in order to provide a permanent document of the event and an insight into the curation of the exhibition for those who were unable to attend.
