Julien Davies Cornell (March 17, 1910 – December 2, 1994) was an American lawyer. Cornell, a graduate of Swarthmore College and the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

and a descendant of

Ezra Cornell Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...

, was a pacifist who defended many conscientious objectors who refused to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Julien D. Cornell Papers, Collection Identifier: SCPC-DG-010
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Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Swarthmore College and wrote two books on the subject of conscientious objection, ''The Conscientious Objector and the Law'' (1943) and ''Conscience and the State'' (1944). Cornell's greatest notoriety came from his defense of Ezra Pound following Pound's indictment for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

for his wartime broadcasts denouncing the Allied war effort and its political leaders and praising Benito Mussolini and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, an experience Cornell chronicled in ''The Trial of Ezra Pound'' (1966).

External links

Julien D. Cornell Papers, Collection Identifier: SCPC-DG-010
fro
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Swarthmore College

References

1910 births 1994 deaths Lawyers from Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn Swarthmore College alumni Yale Law School alumni American pacifists Cornell family Ezra Pound 20th-century American poets 20th-century American lawyers {{US-law-bio-stub