Edward N. Costikyan (September 24, 1924June 22, 2012) was an Armenian American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who was notable for reforming the party in

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. He was also the author of many books and articles on varied topics of public policy and political science.

Early life and education

Costikyan was born in

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the North River ...

on September 24, 1924. By 1940, he and his family (father, Mihran Nazar Costikyan; mother, Berthe Muller Costikyan; and older brother Andrew M. Costikyan) had moved to West 122nd Street in the

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan 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 ...

.New York times: "BERTHE M. COSTIKYAN"
November 16, 1981
May 8, 2014 His father was an oriental rug dealer of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent while his mother was a native of Switzerland. He graduated from

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

, where his mother taught, and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1947, and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1949. He clerked for a year for Judge Harold R. Medina at the U.S. District Court.

Career

In 1951 he joined the firm of

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world. ...

, in his first position as an associate lawyer. He became a partner of that firm in 1960. In 1962, Costikyan was elected chairman of 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 ...

Democratic Committee, defeating

Carmine DeSapio Carmine Gerard DeSapio (December 10, 1908 – July 27, 2004) was an American politician from New York City. He was the last head of the Tammany Hall political machine to dominate municipal politics. Early life and career DeSapio was born in ...

, and served two years. He was credited for removing

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 ...

influence, thus reforming the Democratic Party and bringing it into the 20th Century. He was

Abraham Beame Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. ...

's campaign manager in the 1965 Mayoral campaign. He served on commissions investigating the New York City government for Governor

Nelson A. Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

and Mario M. Cuomo. He dropped out of his campaign for Mayor in 1977, but instead joined the campaign of

Edward I. Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...

, formerly a political adversary. For many years until his death, he served as a member of the

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for the Center for New York City Law at

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.New York Law School website Advisory Council for the Center for New York City Law
Accessed October 8, 2012.

Personal life

Costikyan has been married twice. His first marriage to Frances Holmgren ended in divorce. (subscription required) In 1977, he married Barbara Heine, a freelance writer and daughter of advertising executive, Arthur C. Fatt in a Unitarian ceremony. He has two children from his first marriage including game designer

Greg Costikyan Greg Costikyan (born July 22, 1959, in New York City), sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X", is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wa ...

. He was a founder and conductor for the Occasional Oratorio and Orchestral Society. Coskityan died on June 22, 2012, at the age of 87, at his daughter's home in

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. In the Low Country, it is the fourth largest municipality and largest town in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state's fastest-growin ...

Partial bibliography

Costikyan was the author of many works on the law,

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

, and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, including:

Books

* Edward N. Costikyan, ''Behind closed doors: politics in the public interest'' (

Harcourt Brace Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City an ...

1966). * Edward N. Costikyan, ''New Strategies for Regional Cooperation; a Model for the Tri-State New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Area'' (1973) * Edward N. Costikyan, ''How to Win Votes: The Politics of Nineteen Eighty'' (Harcourt 1980) . * Edward N. Costikyan, ''What Happened To The Body Politic: Can it Be Restored?'' (Publish America 2005) . * Edward N. Costikyan, ''Commentaries by Edward N. Costikyan: The Luck of the Draw and other essays'' (peachland books 2006) .

Articles

* * *

Oral history

Oral History Interview with Edward N. Costikyan at Google Books

References

External links

Index of collected papers at Columbia University libraries

Memoriam page at Paul Weiss website

Death notice at Legacy.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costikyan, Edward N. 1924 births 2012 deaths Horace Mann School alumni Columbia Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers New York (state) Democrats American writers of Armenian descent People from Harlem Armenian male writers American people of Swiss descent Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people 20th-century American lawyers