Saul Weprin (August 5, 1927 – February 11, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was a Democratic member from Queens County 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 ...

, and served as its

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from December 1991 until his death.

Biography

Saul Weprin was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents who had emigrated from the

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

area. He went to Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, and graduated from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

in 1948 and

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

in 1951. He practiced law at the

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 ...

law firm of Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges until he became

Speaker of the New York State Assembly The speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most countries with a British heritage, the speaker presides over the lower hous ...

in 1991. He served in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

in 1945. In the late 1950s he became president of his cooperative apartment board in

Hollis, Queens Hollis is a residential middle class, middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of Hispa ...

, in 1962 he became Democratic leader of the 24th Assembly District. On November 2, 1971, Weprin was elected to the

, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Martin Rodell, and took his seat in the

179th New York State Legislature The 179th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1971, to May 12, 1972, during the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany ...

during the special session in December 1971. Weprin was re-elected several times, and remained in the Assembly until his death in 1994, sitting also in the 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th,

190th New York State Legislature The 190th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1993, to December 31, 1994, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Back ...

s. There he served as chairman of the Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee. In 1986, he tried to become

after

Stanley Fink Stanley Fink (February 6, 1936 – March 4, 1997) was an American lawyer and politician. Life Fink was born on February 6, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York City. He attended New Utrecht High School. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1956, and fr ...

announced his resignation, but lost to

Mel Miller Melvin Howard Miller (July 24, 1939 – March 8, 2019) was an American lawyer and politician. Life Miller was born on July 24, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York City. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1961 and the New York University School of La ...

. In 1987, he got the post of Ways and Means Committee chairman, and was instrumental in developing the Tax Reform and Reduction Act, one of the largest tax cuts in American history. On December 16, 1991, he was elected Speaker "after a lightning-like round of politicking by telephone among the Democrats in the Assembly", after Speaker

had lost his seat in the Assembly upon being convicted on federal fraud charges, later overturned on appeal. Weprin was an opponent of the death penalty and a supporter of abortion rights. He pushed the first gay rights bill through the Assembly, sought to increase state aid for schools in New York, and defended the state's Medicaid and welfare programs against cuts proposed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Personal life

Weprin married Sylvia Matz in 1950, a biology teacher, who was born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1938, when she was eight years old. He died on February 11, 1994, at the

Long Island Jewish Medical Center Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC or LIJ) is a clinical and academic hospital within the Northwell Health system. It is a 807-bed, non-profit tertiary care teaching hospital serving the greater New York metropolitan area. The campus is e ...

in Queens from complications resulting from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. The couple had three sons, Barry Weprin, an attorney in New York, Mark Weprin, who won his father's former seat, and served in the Assembly until January 2010, when he was elected to the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

seat vacated by his brother

David Weprin David Ira Weprin (born May 2, 1956) is a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly, representing District 24 in Queens since 2010, when he replaced his brother Mark. In the Assembly he has supported progressive causes, such as a surchar ...

, who, after an unsuccessful run for

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

, succeeded him in the Assembly in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weprin, Saul 1927 births 1994 deaths 1992 United States presidential electors 20th-century American politicians American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Brooklyn College alumni Brooklyn Law School alumni Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) People from Hollis, Queens Politicians from Brooklyn Speakers of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni 20th-century American Jews