LENEL, OTTO. - Jurist, b. at Mannheim on 13 Dec. 1849, d. at Freiburg im Br. on 7 Feb. 1935. He pursued his studies at the Universities of Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Berlin; he became Privatdozent at Leipzig in 1876 and full professor at Kiel in 1882. From this University he moved in 1884 to Marburg, teaching subsequently at Strasbourg (1885–1906) and at Freiburg im Br. (from 1907). He was a member of the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and doctor honoris causa of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
His very great reputation rests upon two fundamental works for the study of Roman law: Das Edictum
perpetuum, a masterly reconstruction of the edict of the Roman praetor (1st ed., Leipzig 1883; 3rd ed., ibid. 1927; French ed. in 2 vols., Paris 1901–1903), and Paliugenesia iuris civilis (2 vols., Leipzig 1889), an attempt at the critical reconstruction and arrangement of the passages of Roman jurists contained in the Digest and in other sources.