Francis Bohlen

Francis Hermann Bohlen (July 31, 1868 – December 9, 1942) was an American legal scholar from Pennsylvania who specialized in tort law and served as the Algernon Sydney Biddle professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[1]

Francis Hermann Bohlen
Born	Francis Hermann Bohlen (1868-07-31)July 31, 1868 Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Died	December 9, 1942(1942-12-09) (aged 74) Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, US
Occupation(s)	Law professor and cricket player
Known for	Torts scholar and cricket player
Title	Algernon Sydney Biddle professor of law
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Laws, 1892) University of Pennsylvania Law School (Doctor of Laws, 1929)
Academic work
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania Law School

Biography

Bohlen was born in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John and Priscilla Murray Bohlen.^[2][1] He was a descendant of the von Bohlen family of Prussia.^[1] He attended Miss Havens School in Philadelphia.^[1] He graduated from St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire (1884) and the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Laws, 1892). He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Pennsylvania Law School (Doctor of Laws, 1929).^[3]

Apart from his scholarship, he was a well-known cricket player who was considered one of the best amateurs in America, traveling to compete in England and playing for London County Cricket Club, Marylebone Cricket Club, Free Foresters, and the Philadelphian cricket team.^[2][4][5]

Bohlen was the Algernon Sydney Biddle professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.^[6] He was an expert on the law of torts, and also taught evidence and contracts.^[7][1][6] He retired from teaching in 1937.^[6] He was known as a leading theorist of the Realist years in torts theory, though he was not a Realist himself.^[8][9][10]

Among his writings were A Short Selection of Cases on the Law of Torts: Texas, and Other Cases on Torts (Bobbs-Merrill, 1933), Commentaries on Torts: Restatement, Issue 3 (American Law Institute, 1927), and Studies in the law of torts (Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1926).^[11][12][13]

Francis is interred in the Bohlen Family Plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia

He died on December 9, 1942, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, at age 74.^[2] He is interred in the Bohlen family crypt at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

References

1. Lewis, William Draper (1 May 2019). "Francis Hermann Bohlen". University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register. 91 (5): 377–385. JSTOR 3309220.
2. "Francis Bohlen". Cricinfo.
3. "Honorary Degree Recipients by Decade: 1920s". University of Pennsylvania Secretary. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
4. Dhole, Pradip (13 July 2016). "Charles Brathwaite: The American First-Class cricketer who lived a hundred years!". Cricket Country.
5. The New York Clipper Annual ... Containing Theatrical, Musical and Sporting Chronologies ... Frank Queen Publishing Company (Limited). 1894 – via Google Books.
6. "FRANCIS HERMANN BOHLEN," University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
7. White, G. Edward (2003). Tort Law in America: An Intellectual History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198020271 – via Google Books.
8. White, G. Edward (2019). Tort Law in America: An Intellectual History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195139655 – via Google Books.
9. Pihlajamäki, Heikki; Dubber, Markus D.; Godfrey, Mark (2018). The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191088377 – via Google Books.
10. Moore, Michael S. (2010). Causation and Responsibility: An Essay in Law, Morals, and Metaphysics. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780199599516 – via Google Books.
11. Bohlen, Francis Hermann (1926). Studies in the law of torts. Bobbs-Merrill Company – via Google Books.
12. Bohlen, Francis Hermann (1927). Commentaries on Torts: Restatement. American Law Institute – via Google Books.
13. Bohlen, Francis Hermann (1933). A Short Selection of Cases on the Law of Torts: Texas, and Other Cases on Torts. Supplement. Bobbs-Merrill – via Google Books.