In Honor of Adolf Sprudzs

Abstract

Adolf Sprudzs, Foreign Law Librarian and Lecturer in Legal Bibliography, came to the University of Chicago in August 1965. At that time the Law School Library had initiated a development program which aimed at the in-depth acquisition of legal materials for the European Economic Community countries and some other selected areas of the world. The appointment of Mr. Sprudzs was an essential step in the successful implementation of this program. The Law School already possessed a particularly rich collection of French and German legal publications, inter alia, and a faculty that included several European-trained law professors. The most influential of these was Max Rheinstein, who was instrumental in the growth of the foreign and comparative law program at the University of Chicago. The partnership of Professor Rheinstein and Mr. Sprudzs combined their great knowledge, interests and talents. Mr. Sprudzs’ ability to inspire faculty support led to the development of a comprehensive retrospective and current foreign and international law collection within the guidelines of the program. However, the real challenge to Adolf Sprudzs’ resourcefulness began in the early 1970's. As grant money became scarce, prices and the volume of legal publishing began a steady increase and the value of the dollar declined. Mr. Sprudzs was realistic in his assessment of the possible support of the collection and focused the scope of the collection in the areas that were of long-term research interest at the University of Chicago. He worked hard to increase European alumni support and to maintain the friendship that the foreign law graduates feel for the University of Chicago. His close contacts with these alumni, as well as with other librarians and law teachers in Europe, have often enabled the Law Library to acquire materials and obtain grants that would otherwise have been unavailable.