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Raphael Lemkin

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Educator

The Resume

    (June 24, 1900-August 28, 1959)
    Born in Vawkavysk, Belarus
    Law professor
    Studied at the University of Lwów, Ukraine
    Known for writings on the Nazi Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Ukrainian Holodomor
    Coined the word genocide by combining the Greek words 'genos' (family, tribe, or race) and the Latin word 'cide' (killing)
    Wrote 'Genocide - A Modern Crime' (1945) and 'The Crime of Genocie' (1946)
    Drafted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
    Subject of the documentary 'Watchers of the Sky' (2014)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize ten times and lost.
    He attested to being fascinated on the topic of atrocities even as a child.
    He was so into the ethnic cleansing discussion that he would regularly press his mom on 'issues such as the Sack of Carthage, Mongol invasions and conquests and the persecution of Huguenots' (that wouldn't make for a morbid heart-to-heart or anything...)
    He would hang around the corridors of the United Nations building and badger diplomats to sign his petitions, despite having no pass or documentation allowing him to be there.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He spoke nine languages.
    He lost 49 relatives to the Holocaust.
    He left prestigious academic posts at Yale and Duke University to devote himself to getting a resolution passed outlawing Genocide internationally.
    He did not seek recognition and died in obscurity.
    He was posthumously awarded the Four Freedoms Award for the Freedom of Worship, in 1989.
    Winston Churchill made a serious push to get him a Nobel Peace Prize.
    He marked the trial of Armenian Genocide survivor Soghomon Tehlirian for the assassination of Talaat Pasha as defining his worldview, reflecting: 'Why is a man punished when he kills another man? Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of a single individual?'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying