Kisch, Guido, 1889-1985

Born Prague, the son of Alexander Kisch, the Chief Rabbi of that city; Author; humanist scholar; Professor of law, Jewish history and bibliography, and Jewry law at the University of Leipzig, the University of Halle, and the Jewish Institute of Religion (New York), later Hebrew-Union College; also Honorary Professor at the University of Basel; founder and editor of Historia Judaica.

From the description of Guido Kisch papers, [ca. 1934-1972]. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 63889635

Guido Kisch, scholar, jurist, historian, and collector was born on January 22, 1889, in Prague, Austria-Hungary, (now Czech Republic) into a prominent family of rabbis, physicians and scholars. He was the son of Rabbi Alex Kisch and his wife Charlotte, née Polatschek. His father, Alex Kisch, was a rabbi and a writer who in the late 1870s became the first rabbi of Zurich. In 1886 Rabbi Alex Kisch succeeded Dr. Stein at the Meisel Synagogue, and became a leader of the Jewish community in Prague.

Guido Kisch’s earlier schooling took place at the Altstädter Staatsgymnasium in Prague. He then continued his studies at the University of Prague and later at the University of Leipzig, where he studied jurisprudent, political science, history and philosophy, under Adolph Wach, Rudolph Sohm, Ludwig Mitteis, Karl Lamprecht, and Karl Bűchner. While at the University of Prague, between 1909 and 1912 he passed three State Examinations in Law and Political Studies required for the qualification of judge.

Upon the completion of his studies Guido Kisch served as a substitute judge at the Austrian Country Court in Prague, from 1913 to 1915.

In 1915 Kisch began his distinguished career as a teacher and scholar of legal history when he was appointed Privatdozent and became an instructor in legal history at the University of Leipzig. In 1920 he was appointed Professor Ordinarius of History of Law and Political Theory at the University of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), where he taught until 1922. In 1922 Kisch became Professor Ordinarius of History of Law and Political Theory at the University of Halle, where in 1925 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science. He held this position until 1933, when he was dismissed by the Nazi Government.

In addition to his teaching positions, Guido Kisch was also the Director of the Law School Library at the University of Königsberg from 1921 to 1922 and Chief Librarian of the Law Library at the University of Halle from 1925 to 1933.

After his dismissal from the University of Halle he briefly taught at the University of Prague and at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). Unable to find a permanent academic position, Professor Kisch immigrated to the United States in 1935.

After his immigration Professor Kisch settled in New York, where he taught Jewish History at the Jewish Institute of Religion/Hebrew Union College. During this period he also lectured at a number of universities in the United States as well as abroad. Among others, he was a visiting professor at Lund University, Sweden (1949, 1952-1959) and University of Basel, Switzerland (1954). He was also a research associate at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (1953-1959), Columbia University, and briefly at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. In 1962, he returned to Europe. He settled in Basel, Switzerland and taught at the Law School at the University of Basel.

Guido Kisch was a member of several professional organizations, such as Mediaeval Academy of America, American Historical Association, International Congress of Historical Sciences, American Numismatic Society, and American Numismatic Association.

Additionally, he was involved with a number of Jewish cultural and historical institutions. Most notably, Professor Kisch was a founding member of the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews, of which he was elected Honorary President in March, 1962 and also served as Vice President of the American Academy for Jewish Research (1953-1959).

Guido Kisch wrote extensively on the subjects of humanism, medieval and German jurisprudence, history and German-Jewish relations. He published over four hundred titles, including academic works, essays, articles, and reviews. Many of his articles and reviews were published in Historica Judaica, a scholarly journal that he started in 1938 and remained its editor until 1961.

Before his immigration in 1935 his research was focused on the history of medieval German law. During this period he produced such major works as German Arrestation Process (1914), Studies on Medieval German Private and Business Law (1923), Rechts und Sozialgeschichte der Juden in Halle, 1686-1739 (1930), and Jews and University of Prague (1935).

During his American period he shifted the focus of his research towards the history of German-Jewish relationship seen through the prism of the German-Jewish jurisprudence. He had authored a number of important works pertaining to this subject, including Sachsenspiegel and the Bible (1941), Jews in Medieval Germany (1949), and Jewry-Law in Medieval Germany . Another important work from this period is In Search of Freedom (1949), dedicated to the history of immigration of the Jews from Czechoslovakia to the United States.

In his later period, Guido Kisch became interested in the humanistic aspect of jurisprudence. He dedicated a number of works to explore this little known characteristic of jurisprudence. Major works from this period include Zasious und Reuchlin, and Melanchthons Rechts- und Soziallehre . Other important works from this period include Judentaufen (1973), Studies in Medallic History (1975), and Lebensweg eines Rechtshistorikers-Erinnerungen (1975).

Furthermore, Guido Kisch compiled a number of bibliographies, such as Alex Kisch, and Bruno Kisch, Medieval Conception of the Jew, Deutsch-Judaistische Bibliographie, Medieval Legal History of the Jews among other.

Guido Kisch remained active after retiring from his position at the Basel University. He kept close contact with scholars and students and continued writing for scholarly journals and other publications. He died in 1985, at the age of 96 in Basel, Switzerland.

From the guide to the Guido Kisch Collection, 1799-1981, bulk 1920-1971, (Leo Baeck Institute)