Michael Barton Akehurst (1940 – 4 October 1989) was an

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

yer. He was the author of the ''Modern Introduction to International Law'' which remains the most widely used student text in the field. Seven editions have been published, it has been translated into

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and it was updated after his death by Peter Malanczuk under the title 'Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law'.[See Vaughan Lowe, Colin Warbrick (eds.), ''The United Nations and the principles of international law'' (Routledge) available online through Google Books https://books.google.com/books?id=x7ARJEGziIIC,M1] Akehurst was educated at Monkton Combe School, Somerset, then Emmanuel College, Cambridge (MA, LLB) and the University of Paris, where he received a doctorate. After working for the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fle ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, he spent the rest of his career in the Department of Law at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

and he was a member of the editorial committee of the British Yearbook of International Law. He died in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

aged 49. His reputation is such that eight leading academics in the field dedicated their ''Essays on the United Nations and the Principles of International Law'' to his memory in 1994.

References

1940 births 1989 deaths People educated at Monkton Combe School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Academics of Keele University University of Paris alumni British expatriates in France British expatriates in Lebanon {{UK-law-bio-stub