century association biographical archive

Earliest Members of the Century Association

View all members

Paul Fuller

Lawyer

Centurion, 1899–1915

Full Name Paul F. Fuller

Born 26 January 1847 in At Sea, At Sea (Pacific Ocean aboard Thomas H. Perkins,bound for San Francisco from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Died 30 November 1915 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Buried Saint Luke Catholic Cemetery, Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey

Proposed by Frederic R. Coudert and William Bispham

Elected 7 October 1899 at age fifty-two

Archivist’s Note: Father of Paul Fuller; brother-in-law of Frederic R. Coudert; uncle of Frederic R. Coudert

Proposer of:

Seconder of:

Century Memorial

Although always deploring the lack of a college education, Paul Fuller was one of the most cultivated of men and one of the most scholarly of lawyers. He had a profound knowledge of the French and Spanish literatures, and could feel and think in those languages as readily as in English. He was well acquainted with the contents of his library of thirty thousand volumes; and his information upon all topics worthy of the attention of a serious mind was as exceptional as this modest man was diffident in disclosing it. In his profession, not only was he exceedingly learned in American law, but had equipped himself with an almost equal knowledge of the French Civil Code and of private international law. Long a member of the firm of Coudert Brothers, he rarely appeared in court, but his silent and efficient energy guided and directed much intricate and important litigation. He had a remarkable understanding of the Latin-American mind and temperament, and was employed most salutarily by President Wilson in assuaging acrid conditions in Mexico and Central America. As a trustee of Hunter College in this city, his clear-seeing harmonizing influence will be missed. In his profession and in the conduct of his daily life, Paul Fuller was a righteous and a charitable man. Intensely religious, he did not seek the praise of men.

Henry Osborn Taylor
1916 Century Association Yearbook