Harry Kopp (February 22, 1880 – October 27, 1943) was a Belarusian-born Jewish-American lawyer and politician.

Life

Kopp was born on February 22, 1880, in

Brest-Litovsk Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

, Russia, the son of Benjamin Kopp and Sarah Yochen. Kopp immigrated to America shortly after he was born. He spent a year in public school and worked in various trades until 1898. He then began working in the cigar trade, becoming leader of the Progressive Rolled Cigar Makers' Union from 1899 to 1901. He was also a delegate and organizer of the Central Federated Union and the Board of Hebrew Trades. From 1901 to 1906, he worked as a clerk for the postal office. He began studying law while working in the Post Office and graduated from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

in 1906. He then became a practicing lawyer and by 1910 had a law office at 170 Broadway in New York City. In 1909, he formed a partnership with

Nathan D. Perlman Nathan David Perlman (August 2, 1887 – June 29, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life Born in Prusice, Poland, Perlman immigrated to the United States in 1891 with his mother where they settled in New York City. A ...

. Samuel Markewich joined them in 1910, at which point the firm became Kopp, Markewich & Perlman. In 1909, Kopp 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 Republican, representing the New York County 6th District. He served in the Assembly in

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. His district was in 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 ...

. While in the Assembly, he wrote the Private Bankers Law in 1911. He lost the 1912 re-election to the Assembly to

Democratic 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 ...

candidate

Jacob Silverstein Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

. He ran again in 1913 with the endorsement of the Independence League, only to lose to

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

candidate William Sulzer. He was an alternate delegate to the

and

1916 Republican National Convention Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

s. Kopp wrote a number of pamphlets and did a number of lectures and debates opposed to socialism. He was counsel for the defense in over fifteen homicide trials, including People vs. Chin Sing. By 1926, he lived in the Bronx and had a law office in

51 Chambers Street 49 Chambers, formerly known as the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building and 51 Chambers Street, is a residential building at 49–51 Chambers Street in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was built between 19 ...

. In 1927, future

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 ...

Justice Samuel Null joined Kopp's law firm, which became known as Kopp, Markewich & Null. In 1933, he retired from law due to an illness. By the time he died, he was living in Scarsdale. Kopp was a member of the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Grand Street Boys Association, the Bronx County Republican Committee, the Independent Order Brith Abraham, the Israel Orphan Asylum, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. In 1909, he married Lena Newhouse. Their children were Mrs. Gertrude Wasserstrom, Mrs. Evelyn Harris, Mrs. Irma Kent, and Bernard. Kopp died in Mount Sinai Hospital on October 27, 1943. He was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, Harry 1880 births 1943 deaths Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews Jewish American lawyers Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) New York Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from New York City Politicians from the Lower East Side 20th-century American politicians Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly United States Independence Party politicians Politicians from Scarsdale, New York Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City)