George Ginsburgs

George passed away peacefully, at the age of 93, surrounded by family members on March 25,2025. He is survived by Lynda, his wife and partner of 38 years, his children Vera (Scott), and Boris, grandchildren, Nadia and Ronin, predeceased by his daughter, Pauline and brother Jacob.

Known as Grisha to close family and friends, George was born in Shanghai, China on February 13, 1932, to Leon and Rachele Ginsburgs (nee Mashkovich). George’s early education was at the College Francais de Changhai, where he received his Baccalaureate (with honors) in 1950. The family was forced to leave China in 1951 as displaced persons after WWII and lived in Germany for one year. Because he could speak multiple languages including Russian, French and English, George was given a job in the displaced persons camp helping other displaced foreigners complete required governmental paperwork, among other tasks. He also became fluent in German during that year.

The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1952 and settled in Los Angeles, where George almost immediately applied, and was easily accepted, into UCLA. In fact, he recalled that as a foreigner he had to take an English proficiency test and was viewed suspiciously when he only made one error. At UCLA he completed his B. A. in International Relations (cum laude), M.A. in Political Science (Thesis on The Soviet Union, the Nuremberg Trials, and International Law) and Ph.D. (Dissertation on the Theory and Practice of Neutrality in Soviet Diplomacy) and learned to speak Spanish fluently along the way. It was at UCLA that he met his best and lifelong friend, Oles Smolansky. George served in the U.S. army, stateside, from 1954 to 1956 where he trained as a gunner and then worked as a corporal in the signals corp.

After attaining his Ph.D., (1960) George taught at the University of Iowa as a professor, for five years, then the New School of Social Research in New York for seven years. Lastly, he settled at the Rutgers Law School in Camden, New Jersey as a professor of law (1973). George made numerous friends amongst his colleagues and was regarded by his students as a thought-provoking lecturer with a biting sense of humor. He was a prolific writer, and became a true scholar of International Law, Soviet Law, and Communist Chinese Law among others. He wrote many articles and books, including a celebrated two-volume work on the Nuremberg Trials, contributed to law journals, spoke at conferences and taught at universities abroad. His writings were very well respected and cited by many, including the courts. He was often called upon for his expert opinion in international court cases and his work has been cited in U.S. Supreme Court opinions.

George was very erudite, witty and soft-spoken but wielded a sharp pen. In later years he confessed that some of the negative book reviews he wrote, might have been deserved, but in retrospect, perhaps somewhat harsh. He had mellowed with age, but he was his own harshest critic and was disappointed when others did not seem to take their scholarship seriously. George retired from Rutgers as a Distinguished Professor of Law with Emeritus status. In retirement George loved to work in the garden and feed his animal friends, squirrels, birds and chipmunks. He was always a great lover of the arts, especially opera and ballet. He bought so many art pieces that he ran out of wall space for them and the dining room became a small art gallery, filled with beautiful objets d’art, but his wife Lynda forgave him and everyone just had to eat in the kitchen, which was not a bad trade-off. George was a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend. He loved his mother-in-law, Thelma, to bits and she and all of his in-laws loved him right back. A kind and caring man, he will be missed by his family and many friends. George’s family would like to thank the doctors and nursing staff at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital for their compassionate care and support.

George’s family will receive friends on Thursday, April 3^rd, 10-10:45 AM at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, NJ; where a celebration of his life will follow at 11 AM.  Interment, private.  If you would like to attend the Service via Zoom, please email KainMurphy@comcast.net for the link.  In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Jane Goodall Institute (https://janegoodall.org/ ), UNICEF (https://www.unicefusa.org/), or Doctors without Borders (https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/).