Aaron Jefferson Levy (July 4, 1881 – November 21, 1955) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life and career

He was born on July 4, 1881, in New York City. He is the son of Jacob Levy and Annabella (Bernstein) Levy (1862–1945). He attended the public schools and

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. He graduated LL.B. from New York University School of Law in 1902. He practiced law in New York City. On March 10, 1903, he married Libbie Finkelstein, and they had two children. Levy was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(New York Co., 4th D.) in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

and

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

. He was Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in 1911; and Majority Leader in 1913. He was also the chairman of the managers on behalf of the Assembly (i.e. the prosecution team) at the impeachment trial of Governor William Sulzer in 1913. He was an alternate delegate to the

1912 Democratic National Convention The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. The Convention The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 t ...

. In November 1913, he was elected to the New York City Municipal Court; and he was President of the Board of Municipal Justices from 1916 to 1923. In November 1923, he was elected to the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

. In 1937, when he ran for re-election, the Citizens Union urged voters to vote him down, but he was re-elected nevertheless. He died on November 21, 1955, in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, of a heart attack;''SERVICE FOR AARON LEVY''
in '' The New York Times'' on November 26, 1955 (subscription required) and was buried at the Mokom Sholem Cemetery in Ozone Park, Queens.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Aaron J. 1881 births 1955 deaths Politicians from Manhattan Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York Supreme Court Justices Cooper Union alumni New York University School of Law alumni 20th-century American judges