Leon Radzinowicz

Sir Leon Radzinowicz, (15 August 1906 – 29 December 1999) was a Polish criminologist and academic. He was the founding director of the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge.

Early life and education Radzinowicz was born on 15 August 1906 in Łódź, Congress Poland. He studied law as an undergraduate student at the University of Paris and the University of Geneva. From 1949 to 1959, Radzinowicz was Director of the Department of Criminal Science, University of Cambridge. In 1959, he became the first Wolfson Professor of Criminology at the Institute of Criminology.

Death On 29 December 1999, Radzinowicz died in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. He was aged 93. He is buried with his third wife in the Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

Personal life Radzinowicz had married three times. He married Irena Szereszewska in 1933; they divorced in 1955. He was married to Mary Ann Nevins from 1958 to 1979. They had two children: Ann and William. On 24 February 1970, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. In 1973, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). On 13 April 1999, he was appointed an honorary Queen's Counsel (QC).