Early life and studies (1872–1903) Martin Wolff, the son of Wilhelm Wolff and Lehna Wolff () was born in Berlin on 26 September 1872, into the family of a Jewish businessman and brought up in the Jewish faith. He attended the
Collège Français in Berlin and studied Law in Berlin. In 1894, he was awarded a doctorate from the law faculty based on a dissertation on the . In 1900, he obtained his
habilitation in Berlin, with the thesis [Building on the Property of Another, in Particular Building that Encroaches on Adjoining Land According to the Civil Code for the German Reich on a Historical Basis].
Academic career, 1903–1938 In 1903, he was appointed as an associate professor. About this time, he wrote his treatise on property law in
–Kipp–Wolff, which became a standard work for almost half a century and was translated into Spanish in 1937. He married
Marguerite Jolowicz in 1906. In 1907, he had a son,
Konrad Wolff, who later became a famous pianist. He did not receive a full professorship until 1914. In 1919 he moved to
Bonn, but returned to Berlin in 1921, being appointed Professor for Civil Law, Commercial Law, and Private International Law. Wolff was regarded as an outstanding lecturer, his lectures always being full to overflowing. When the Nazis
seized power, his lectures began to be disrupted. On 4 June and 5 June 1933, student
SA men interrupted his lecture and threatened students who wished to attend. When Wolff started speaking, he could not be heard. More than a hundred hecklers whistled and shouted "." Only after the rector, Eduard Kohlrausch, intervened was Wolff able to continue with the lecture (Wolff later stated that Kohlrausch was the only university teacher to support him). But the disturbances continued. In 1935, because of his Jewish descent Wolff, along with his colleague
Ernst Rabel, was ousted from his professorship by the new dean of the Law Faculty, the fanatical Nazi Wenzeslaus von Gleispach, although neither he nor his colleague came under the proscriptions of the
Civil Service Restoration Act, because they had had tenure since before 1914. The dismissal was nevertheless ordered by the education ministry.
Emigration to England 1938–1953 In 1938, he finally
emigrated to the
United Kingdom, never to return to Germany. He was made a
fellow of
All Souls College,
Oxford. In 1945, he published
Private International Law, a comprehensive description of English private international law. In 1947, he became a British citizen. In 1953, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. He died in London on 20 July 1953. He was survived by his wife, the former Marguerite Jolowicz (1883–1964). == Works ==