Ellen L. Kennedy

Ellen Lee Kennedy died peacefully on September 22, 2026, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, after a long illness. She was 80 years old. She was retired from her academic and teaching life, most recently from the University of Pennsylvania where she joined the faculty in 1989. She was a scholar of political theory and comparative constitutional law, and had an international reputation as an expert on the work of German jurist Carl Schmitt.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Ellen was a graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School in 1964. She enjoyed riding and competing three gaited American saddle horses and had a lifetime love of dogs, especially Boston Terriers. Ellen went on to attend Trinity College in Washington, D.C. (now Trinity Washington University), and then on to further studies at the University of Indiana where she worked with America’s first woman Ambassador to the United Nations, Jean Kirkpatrick. She received her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, working with the celebrated political theorist Michael Oakeshott. She did extensive research in Freiburg, Germany, becoming fluent in German and developing long term interests in modern Germany. Before coming to the University of Pennsylvania, Ellen taught in England at the University of York and the University of Manchester.
Professor Kennedy’s translations made Schmitt’s theories accessible to a broad intellectual audience. Her books and articles on constitutional law attracted international attention. She also published a monograph on the Bundesbank, the German Central Bank and was consulted by European monetary policy-makers.
Professor Kennedy venerated the canon of political theory. Among her favorite class texts were Cicero’s Murder Trials, the Oresteia, and Bodin’s work on witches and sovereignty. Her sharp wit and love of learning were always on display.
When Ellen Kennedy came to Philadelphia, she began to show and breed Boston Terriers and enjoyed producing several highly ranked show dogs who were also beloved pets. She loved classical and early music, opera, show tunes, and the music of Stephen Foster. She was a fine cook, and a connoisseur of wine with a special fondness for German dry Rieslings. She was a generous host entertaining in her lovely garden and old Philadelphia house. She was a serious car fan, very proud of her white Volvo convertible. She will be interred in Knoxville Calvary Cemetery, near her parents, Martin Kennedy and Mattie Jane Kennedy, and her sister, Mabel Ellen Barbish and Mabel Ellen’s husband, “Moose” Barbish. A funeral mass will be held on Friday, November 20, 2026, at10 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 414 West Vine Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902.