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Bella Abzug (1920 - 1998)
American feminist, lecturer, activist, and political figure, born Bella Savitzky in the Bronx. The daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, she became a Zionist at twelve and began giving speeches and raising money for the Zionist cause at subway stations. She later attended Hunter College, graduating in 1942, and went to Columbia University Law School, where she edited the Columbia Law Review. In 1945 she married Martin M. Abzug and received her law degree from Columbia two years later. Admitted to the bar that same year, she specialized in labor law and also devoted her efforts to the civil rights movement. Among those she defended were persons accussed of subversive activities during the Joseph McCarthy era.

In 1961, Bella Abzug founded Women's Strike For Peace, which she chaired for the next nine years. She also supported Eugene McCarthy in his bid for the Presidency, and organized the Taxpayer's Campaign for Urban Priorities in the 1969 mayoral election in New York. In 1970, she defeated incumbent Leonard Farbstein and became the first Jewish woman ever elected to the US Congress. As a member of Congress, she introduced legislation to withdraw US troops from Vietnam, petitioned for an end to the draft and Congressional approval of the Equal Rights Amendment, and called for a competency investigation on J. Edgar Hoover. She later introduced a bill that would extend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation, and also advocated the banning of anti-gay job discrimination. Bella Abzug also supported a credit-rights bill for women, abortion rights, and child-labor legislation. She was re-elected in 1972 and 1974, but vacated the seat to run for the Senate in 1976; she was defeated by Patrick Moynihan. In 1977, she was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as co-chair of the National Advisory Committee on Women, but was dismissed in 1979 for criticizing his administration. In 1980, she ran in the New York mayoral election, but lost the Democratic primary to a poltical unknown by the name of Ed Koch.

She returned to private law practice in 1980, and continued her involvement in activism and the various organizations she had helped found, particularly the National Women's Political Caucus, Women USA, and WEDO (Women's Environment and Development Organization), and lectured extensively on women's rights, gay rights, world peace, and individual freedom. She was also a contributor to Ms. Magazine and a commentator on CNN. In 1984 she wrote Gender Gap: Bella Abzug's Guide to Political Power for American Women. In 1994, she was inducted ino the Women's Hall of Fame, but by now a debilitating heart condition had confined her wheelchair. Still, she was able to attended a woman's conference in Beijing in 1995. She also spoke before the UN Committee on the Status of Women in 1998. Sadly, she died soon afterward from complications from heart surgery. She was 77.

Bella Abzug will always be remembered as a great pioneer and champion not only for the rights of women and gays, but for all people. She was often described as a spitfire, and was nicknamed "Battling Bella," Hurricane Bella," and "Mother Courage." A favorite quotation of hers was,"Women have been trianed to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over!"

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