O.S. Ioffe Collection

OIimpiad Solomonovich Ioffe, was born January 22, 1920, in what is now Ukraine. He received his diploma, and later Candidate and full Doctorate degrees from the Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University) in the former U.S.S.R. His studies had been interrupted by World War II but after returning he earned the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science in 1954. For over 20 years he was the Chairman of the Civil Law Department. He was one of the principals in drafting the Civil Code of the Russian Republic, and was an author of numerous publications including a fundamental text book on Soviet Civil Law. Many prominent figures in Russia were among his students, including former Major of St. Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak, and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Ioffe emigrated to the USA in 1981. After a brief Fellowship at Harvard Law School, he received a tenured position as a professor at the University of Connecticut Law School (UConn) in 1982. In 1995 he was named the William F. Starr Professor of Law. Professor Ioffe taught Comparative Law, Roman Law and Soviet Law, and also conducted classes on human rights. He was instrumental in helping to establish the study of international law at the Law School. His publications of more than 30 books and 200 articles over the course of his career include works on legal and economic issues, and books which helped to understand the processes of change taking place in the Soviet Union. He remained at UConn until he retired in 1988. Ioffe passed away April 8, 2005 in Farmington, Connecticut.

A more in-depth biographical sketch of Ioffe was published online by the University of Connecticut on March 13, 2023. A copy of the text is found in Box 2, folder 9.

In 2006, the Law School created a professorship after named for Ioffe. The Olimpiad S. Ioffe Professor of International and Comparative Law is “named for a colleague who brought great distinction to the Law School as our first professor in the field of comparative law and as an internationally known scholar of Soviet law and legal institutions. He was the dean of Leningrad State University, but was forced to immigrate to the United States when he lost his position for political reasons. We welcomed him to the Law School, where he became the first William F. Starr Professor of Law, a beloved teacher, and a brilliant scholar until his retirement in 1998. He died in 2004, and we honor his memory with a prize created by former students and colleagues in his name – the first of which was awarded at Prize Day on May 20, 2006. The Ioffe Professorship is designed to reward achievement and promise in the areas of comparative or international law.”

(Quoted language from a description in Professorships and Chairs; document available in the Archives.)