Abraham Harawitz (May 8, 1879 – May 24, 1935) was a Russian-born Jewish-American lawyer, politician, and judge from New York.

Life

Harawitz was born on May 8, 1879 in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the son of Moses and Mollie Harawitz. He immigrated to America when he was seven and grew up on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After attending public school, Harawitz studied in the College of the City of New York from 1895 to 1898. He then went to the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, graduating from there with an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1900. After graduating, he worked as a lawyer in New York City, with an office in 7 Beekman Street. Harawitz joined the Tammany Hall Club of the Eighth Assembly District immediately after he was admitted to the bar and became active in

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

. In 1905, he was elected to 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 ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, representing the

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

8th District. He was elected over Louis Freidel and

Jacob Panken Jacob Panken (January 13, 1879 – February 4, 1968) was an American socialist politician, best remembered for his tenure as a New York municipal judge and frequent candidacies for high elected office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of Ame ...

. He served in the Assembly in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

. In the latter year, he had been elected with support from the

Independence League The Independence Party, established as the Independence League, was a short-lived minor American political party sponsored by newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst in 1906. The organization was the successor to the Municip ...

. He refused to serve a third term in the Assembly. He was a delegate to the 1915 New York State Constitutional Convention. By then, he had a law office on Broadway. In 1927, Harawitz was elected Justice of the Municipal Court over

. He was still serving as Justice when he died. Upon his death, Mayor La Guardia appointed

Louis J. Lefkowitz Louis J. Lefkowitz (July 3, 1904 – June 20, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the Attorney General of New York State for 22 years. He was a Republican. Early life and education Lefkowitz was born to a Jewish family ...

to replace him to the Municipal Court. Harawitz was married to Nettie Zolty. Their children were Howard L. and Milton. Harawitz died in his apartment in the

Broadway Central Hotel The Grand Central Hotel, later renamed the Broadway Central Hotel, was a hotel at 673 Broadway, New York City, that was famous as the site of the murder of financier James Fisk in 1872 by Edward S. Stokes. The hotel collapsed on August 3, 197 ...

from a two-week illness on May 24, 1935. He was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Harawitz, Abraham 1879 births 1935 deaths Politicians from Minsk American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States People from the Lower East Side City College of New York alumni New York University School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from New York City Jewish American attorneys Politicians from Manhattan 20th-century American politicians United States Independence Party politicians Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) 20th-century American judges New York (state) state court judges Burials at Mount Zion Cemetery (New York City)