Discover the Best Books Written by Ernest Van Den Haag

Ernest van den Haag was a Dutch-born American sociologist, social critic, and author. He was John M. Olin's Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University. He was best known for his contributions to National Review. Ernest van den Haag was born in 1914 in The Hague to Moses "Max" Melamerson and Flora Haag Melamerson. 

He changed his surname in the early 1940s. While Van den Haag was still young, his family moved to Italy. Van den Haag grew up in Italy and began a life in politics following his education. In the late 1930s, he was a left-wing activist and communist. During this time, Italy was ruled by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. In 1937, Van den Haag was nearly murdered by a political assassin who shot him five times. 

After being shot, he spent nearly three years in prison. Nearly eighteen months of those three years were spent in solitary confinement. After release, fearing re-imprisonment, Van den Haag drifted between European countries in an attempt to evade Italy and Mussolini. In 1940, he made his way to Portugal and fled to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island, not knowing any English. 

Living in New York, Van den Haag worked as a busboy and sold vegetables; eventually, he was able to secure admission to the University of Iowa, where a group of faculty members recognized his intellectual gifts and agreed to pay for his tuition. In 1942, Van den Haag graduated with an M.A. in economics. The same year, Van den Haag met the political philosopher Sidney Hook. 

His friendship with Hook forever changed Van den Haag, converting him from being a left-wing activist and communist to the opposite end of the spectrum; Van den Haag was now a conservative. Over the years, Van den Haag took a particular interest in the field of capital punishment and the death penalty. His book Punishing Criminals: Concerning a Very Old and Painful Question (1975) developed his reputation as one of the foremost thinkers and proponents of the death penalty. Van den Haag was considered by his colleagues to be an expert on the issue of capital punishment.