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This Article studies the career and academic work in the field of European law by Eric Stein (1913–2011), the University of Michigan Law School professor who is often acknowledged as the father of English legal scholarship on the European Union. Few—if any—experts on European law can indeed claim to have had a career as long, prolific, and influential as Eric Stein's. From 1955 to the very end of his life, the Czech-born American scholar produced numerous books and dozens of papers on European legal integration, including his 1981 classic Lawyers, Judges, and the Making of a Transnational Constitution. The present Article focuses on his life and career until 1983 and is structured in three chronological periods. It traces his personal and professional journey from his native Bohemia to his appointment at the University of Michigan Law School, then contextualizes and analyzes some of his most influential academic writings on Community law. It argues that Stein's success resulted from his correlated abilities and efforts to produce (alone and in collaboration) pathbreaking academic research on the development of European Community (EC) law and institutions, to establish the University of Michigan Law School as a renowned center of excellence in European legal studies, and finally to develop an extensive network with European scholars and communities officials. This Article is based on Eric Stein's personal papers and interviews as well as on several key private archives.
