Ernest van den Haag

Ernest van den Haag (September 15 1914, The Hague – March 21 2002, Mendham, New Jersey) was a Dutch-American sociologist, social critic, and John M. Olin Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University. He was best known for his contributions to "National Review".

Van den Haag was born in The Netherlands and raised in Italy, where, as a left-wing activist, he was nearly killed by a political assassin from Mussolini's Fascist regime [ http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/apap135.htm Archives of Public Affairs "Finding Aid for theErnest van den Haag Papers, 1935-2000" ] . In 1937, he was jailed by Mussolini's government and spent almost the next two full years in solitary confinement. [ [http://www.kirkcenter.org/bookman/43-1-nash.html The Kirk Center ] ] After escaping from Italy, and then from Nazi-occupied France, he settled in the United States in 1940. He eventually met and befriended William F. Buckley, Jr. He began writing articles for Buckley's "National Review", though he was never hired as a staff member. He would contribute columns to the publication for the next 45 years. Van den Haag was also a well-known defender of the continued use of the death penalty in the United States. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/procon/haagarticle.html Ernest van den Haag/Legal Scholar ] ] He also defended racial segregation in the 1960s arguing that integration would cause psychological harm to black children. [Stell v. Savannah-Chatham County Board of Educ. 318 F. 2d.425 (5th Cir. 1963b).]

Literary Works

Throughout his life, Ernest van den Haag wrote many books and articles about society, and more specifically about capital punishment. His works include:

"The Death Penalty: A Debate", 1983 (Co-Authored with John P. Conrad)"The Jewish Mystique", 1968

References