Hughes, C.J. 1918–2005

(Christopher John Hughes)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 6, 1918, in Leek Wootton, Warwickshire, England; died November 12, 2005. Political scientist, educator, and author. A former University of Leicester professor, Hughes was a scholar of Swiss politics.

Earning a B.A. and M.A. from University College, Oxford, in 1939, he enlisted as an officer in the British Army, seeing action in India and Singapore. He suffered for over three years as a prisoner of war in the hands of the Japanese, and had to be hospitalized after his release. Hughes then returned to school, completing a B.Phil. at University College in 1948. He lectured at the University of Glasgow for four years, but was unhappy there, so he joined the British Foreign Office in 1954. Here he put his German language skills to use as staff member of the German section for two years. Eventually, he returned to academia, joining the faculty at Leicester in 1957. He was promoted to professor in 1962 and headed the political science department until retiring in 1974. It was during his time at Glasgow that Hughes had earned a Carnegie fellowship that permitted him to travel to Switzerland. He later became interested in the country, specializing in the Swiss constitution and its government, and producing books such as The Federal Constitution of Switzerland: Text and Commentary (1954) and Switzerland (1975). He was also known for his writings about philosopher Georg Hegel.

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Times (London, England), December 9, 2005, p. 79.