Bella Abzug
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Bella Savitsky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998) was a well-known American political figure and a leader of the women's movement. She famously said, "This woman's place is in the House — the House of Representatives," in her successful 1970 campaign to join that body.
She graduated from Walton High School in New York City. She went on to Hunter College of the City University of New York, and earned a LL.B. from Columbia University. She then went on to do further post-graduate work at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
She was admitted to the New York Bar in 1947, and started practicing in New York City, particularly active in matters of labor law. She became an attorney in the 1940s, a time when very few women did so, and took on civil rights cases in the South. Abzug was an outspoken advocate of liberal causes, including support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and opposition to the Vietnam War. This landed her on the master list of Nixon political opponents.
She served the state of New York in the United States House of Representatives, representing her district of Manhattan, from 1971 to 1977. She was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights.
In 1976, she ran for the U.S. Senate, but was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She was also unsuccessful in a bid to be the Mayor of New York City in 1977, and in attempts to return to the U.S. House from the East Side of Manhattan in 1978 and from Westchester County in 1986. She remained active in politics even after she had ceased to be a candidate.
In 1990, she co-founded the Women's Environment & Development Organization to mobilize women's participation in international conferences, particularly those run by the United Nations.
She was well-known for her habit of wearing noticeable hats. Abzug, who was Jewish, appeared in the WLIW video A Laugh, A Tear, A Mitzvah. She was also known in the Congress for being extremely outspoken. This became a problem during her legislative career and led one of her fellow House members to say that her support of any bill would cost it 20 to 30 votes.
She had been battling breast cancer for a number of years when she developed heart disease and died in 1998 at the age of 77.
| Preceded by Leonard Farbstein |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th congressional district 1971–1973 |
Succeeded by Charles B. Rangel |
| Preceded by William Fitts Ryan |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 20th congressional district 1973–1977 |
Succeeded by Theodore S. Weiss |
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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Categories: American anti-Vietnam War activists | American feminists | Breast cancer patients | City University of New York people | Columbia University alumni | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Jewish American politicians | Jewish Theological Seminary of America people | LGBT rights activists | Members of the United States House of Representatives from New York | New York City mayoral candidates | People from Manhattan | National Women's Hall of Fame inductees | Pro-choice activists | United States Senate candidates | 1920 births | 1998 deaths
