Gerhardt Bubnik ’69, HLS’ first Czeck graduate and longtime judge at Winter Olympic Games, stopped by Library to autograph his book

As the 2026 Winter Olympic Games draw to a close, the Harvard Law School Library recalls a visit last year from HLS alum Gerhardt Bubnik ’69, whose life and career illustrate the powerful intersection of law, sport, and history. Mr. Bubnik has been a lawyer, figure skater, International Skating Union legal adviser, and Winter Olympic Games judge.

He was the first Czech citizen admitted to Harvard Law School’s LL.M. (Master of Laws) program, and served as a judge for the Winter Olympic Games from 1976 to 2014.

In March 2025, Mr. Bubnik visited the HLS Library to sign a copy of his book, “Law and Sport – My Passions: The Life Odyssey of Harvard’s first Czech Law Graduate” (2020), which we have in our collection.

His inscription reads, “To the Harvard Law School Library with thanks for having my book as part of its collection. I spent in the library many hours during the 1968-69 and I am very grateful for all what I have learned here. -Gerhardt Bubnik, March 26, 2025”

Mr. Bubnik weaves personal stories, photos, and world events into an interesting and often humorous 563-page book.

Early life

Gerhardt Bubník was born in Prague in 1935, coming of age during a turbulent era that included Nazi occupation, World War II, and later Communist rule. His early years were marked by hardship, including the profound effects of the Holocaust on his family and community. His parents were both taken to concentration camps and, in 1945, he (age 9 ½) and his brother (age 11) lived alone for several months until the end of the war when his parents, miraculously, returned.

Eventually, he studied at the Law School of Charles University in Prague from 1953-1958. At the same time, he nurtured his passion for figure skating.

In his book, Mr. Bubnik recalls that, “most of the teachers merely read the prescribed textbooks aloud, despite the fact that every student could read the textbook at home”. This method worked well for Mr. Bubnik, who did not have time for homework due to a rigorous figure skating schedule.

He writes, “I intensively practiced and competed in figure skating competitions during the first four years of my study at the School of Law. I had been a member of the Czechoslovak National Figure Skating Team since 1954, my second year. This required me to train four to five hours on ice each day, plus additional hours of “dry” (off-ice) training.”

He became an attorney in 1963. In 1968, he took a leave from his firm in Prague to attend Harvard.

Harvard Law School

On April 18, 1968, Mr. Bubnik learned he had been accepted to Harvard Law School and had received a scholarship to attend. He writes, “Indeed, I never thought that Harvard Law School would accept me. Why would they give a lawyer from a Communist country a scholarship?”

Shortly after he arrived in the U.S., the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Though worrying about his family’s safety back home, he persevered at HLS, doing well academically, and earning the Addison Brown Prize, which was “awarded for the best dissertation in private international law,” according to his book. The prize is still awarded today. In a 2006 interview with Radio Prague International, Mr. Bubnik reflected on his time at HLS. “It changed the whole style of my work. It changed my legal way of thinking. It has changed my approach to problems. I would look not for clear answers immediately in the statutes, I would look for problems, which I might face when representing interests of my client. Where are the dangers?”

After Harvard

In 1970, Mr. Bubnik returned to his previous firm in Prague. He became known for his expertise in international law and arbitration, eventually helping foreign companies navigate the Czech legal system after the fall of communism in 1989.

After the Velvet Revolution, a non-violent movement in Czechoslovakia in 1989 that ended communist rule, Bubník founded a private law firm and became a respected international arbitrator.

During his legal career, he was inducted into the Czech Law Hall of Fame and received the Golden Badge of Merit from the Czech Bar Association.

The Olympics

One chapter of Mr. Bubnik’s book highlights “Stories from the Olympic Games.”

When Mr. Bubník stopped competing as a figure skater, he turned to judging, and eventually became a legal adviser to the International Skating Union, helping draft rules, interpret regulations, and protect the integrity of the sport. He was deeply involved in major Olympic controversies, including investigating judging scandals, and contributing to reforms that improved fairness in competition. He served as a judge at the Winter Olympic Games from 1976 and 2014, including the 1994 Winter Olympics, where he was one of the officials who ruled on Tonya Harding’s broken shoelace during her controversial performance.

According to the book jacket, “He has received the Olympic Order and the Prize for the Fight against Doping in Sport from the International Olympic Committee, and he was elected as an ISU Honorary Member by the Congress of the International Skating Union. As a sport official, he attended nine Olympic Winter Games starting with Innsbruck 1976 through Sochi 2014.”

Visit to HLS Library

The HLS Library was pleased to be a stop on Mr. Bubnik’s HLS tour when he was in Boston for the Winter Figure Skating Championships last year.

Several members of our staff helped make that visit possible. Mindy Kent, our manager of Reference and Student Research & Instructional Services, was one of them.

“We work with the LL.M. students closely while they’re here, but they’re only here for a year. We hope that we helped them and were able to contribute to a valuable experience for them. When Mr. Bubnik was visiting, he spoke so warmly of his time at HLS, the Library, and of the people he remembered from the Library. It felt like the completion of a circle. I hope that 50 years from now, one of our alums will remember and speak as fondly about their current member of the Harvard Law School Library team,” said Kent. “Mr. Bubnik has lived a fascinating life and witnessed many major events of 20th century history, including the Holocaust and the fall of the Soviet Union. I think his experiences, his role in international sport, and his long career as a lawyer during major historical changes make his memoir a good fit for our collection…It was great to have Mr. Bubnik visit and make the process personal.”

Gerhardt Bubnik’s book can be found at HOLLIS no. 99157784382503941. You can also hear him discuss his book in 2021 with the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC, on YouTube.

Photo credits: All images taken from “Law and Sport – My Passions: The Life Odyssey of Harvard’s first Czech Law Graduate” (2020) by Gerhardt Bubnik.