Boris Kozolchyk, an international and comparative law scholar, prolific author, and beloved pillar of his family and community, died on Thursday, September 17th. He was 91, and surrounded by loved ones until the end.
Boris was born to Abram and Chana Kozolchyk in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in the suburb of Marianao with his beloved sister, Marta, alongside many — many — cousins, aunts, uncles, and one formidable grandmother, “la Boobeh Tzipa Rochel.”
Beyond his devotion to family, Boris was a fierce and loyal friend, music lover, and high school boxer, whose nom de guerre was the Borko Kid. He was also a law school baseball teammate of a young Fidel Castro at the University of Havana.
Upon obtaining a doctorate in civil law there in 1956, then a diploma of comparative law at the Faculté International de Droit Compare in Luxembourg in 1958, Boris came to the United States to continue his legal education and career.
He got an L.L.B. at the University of Miami, then taught at Southern Methodist University before pursuing an L.L.M. and S.J.D. at the University of Michigan. From there, Boris became the RAND Corporation’s first resident consultant on law and economic development in 1967.
It was then that he began dating Billie Herman, whom he’d met at the wedding of his cousin to hers in 1955. A language barrier, the Atlantic Ocean, and Billie’s crush on Boris’s best friend were impediments to romance the first time around. But by 1967, he spoke English, lived in the U.S., and visited New York City, where she lived. He asked her out, and — despite accidentally locking himself in her building’s storage room, where she’d sent him on a mission — Boris dazzled the beautiful young social worker.
After a whirlwind romance, they married that same year and moved to San Jose, Costa Rica, where he directed a legal reform project for USAID and taught at the University of Costa Rica’s law school. A two-year honeymoon of sorts, his project resulted in an abiding love of the Central American countryside and lifelong friends. The project also resulted in legal aid clinics, court clerkships, and university curricula.
From there, Boris took a position at the University of Arizona’s law school, where he taught for nearly fifty years while he and Billie raised three deeply beloved children — Abbie, Raphael, and Shaun. The family’s home at the base of the Catalina Mountains was a constant source of beauty and solace for him, especially when he took in the desert views from his office windows.
Over the decades, he also guest lectured internationally, served as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and founded the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade (later renamed the Kozolchyk National Law Center in his honor) with the aim of helping developing countries through legal training and increased access to credit.
The many awards and accolades he earned along the way give his family great pride, but his greatest source of pride were his children and grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife Billie Kozolchyk; children Abbie Kozolchyk, Raphael Kozolchyk (Diana Rubin), and Shaun Kozolchyk (David Kozolchyk Plotkin); grandchildren Sigal, Liana, Alex, Ethan, Jacob, and Rebecca Kozolchyk; sister Marta Olchyk (Oscar Olchyk of blessed memory); nephew Samuel (Debbie) and niece Sonia Olchyk, and many other loved ones.
His family is inexpressibly grateful to his devoted and loving caregivers.
Services were held at Congregation Anshei Israel. Burial followed at Evergreen Mortuary and Cemetery; a recording is here: https://tinyurl.com/3kj2fy98
Memorial donations can be made to Congregation Anshei Israel, Congregation Chaverim, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, or the charity of your choice.
