Ralph Anspach (15 March 1926 – March 2022) was a German-born American economics professor and games creator from
San Francisco State University. Anspach was a graduate of the
University of Chicago and fought with the
Mahal in 1948 in support of the independence of Israel. He is best known for creating the game ''
Anti-Monopoly'' and the legal battles that followed.
Life
Ralph Anspach was born on 15 March 1926 in
Danzig, Germany, where he grew up and belonged to several Zionist youth groups.
In 1938, he escaped Germany for the US. Anspach enlisted in the US Army, serving from 1945 to 1946 in an artillery observation unit based in the Philippines.
[
While attending the University of Chicago, he heard about concentration camp survivors' problem of being shuttled about and not being allowed into Palestine. Thus, he volunteered, under the cover of being an agricultural laborer, to fight in ]1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
on Israel's side as a part of the Mahal, the foreign volunteers. Anspach served in an anti-tank unit.[
Anspach created the game '' Anti-Monopoly'', which resulted in a 1974 trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Parker Brothers. While researching the case, he uncovered the patents of Lizzie Magie for her '' Landlord's Game'', a precursor to Monopoly. In 1979, the parties reached a settlement allowing Anspach to continue marketing ''Anti-Monopoly.'']
Works
* Games[
**'' Anti-Monopoly''
**''Original-opoly''
*Books
**''The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle''][
]
See also
* History of the board game ''Monopoly''
References
External links
* (PDF)
*
* Discover Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anspach, Ralph
1926 births
2022 deaths
American economists
Monopoly (game)
University of Chicago alumni
Danzig emigrants to the United States
People from the Free City of Danzig