Lester Holtzman
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 6th district
In office January 3, 1953 – December 31, 1961
Preceded by	James J. Delaney
Succeeded by	Benjamin Rosenthal
Personal details
Born	(1913-06-01)June 1, 1913 New York City
Died	November 12, 2002(2002-11-12) (aged 89) Tamarac, Florida, U.S.
Party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Fordham University School of Law
Occupation	Attorney

Lester Holtzman (June 1, 1913 – November 12, 2002) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician. He served four terms in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1953 to 1961. He was later a justice of theNew York Supreme Court, serving from 1962 until 1973.

Holtzman was born in New York City on June 1, 1913 to Jewish immigrants from Poland, Isidore and Rebecca. Lester was the couple's only child born in the United States. He had an older sister Rose who was born in Poland and immigrated with her parents. They are the only two to survive infancy. The family lived on theLower East Side in Manhattan until 1916, when Lester contracted polio. They settled in theMiddle Village, inQueens which might offer a better chance to recover. He attendedNewtown High School in Queens until his father bought a small grocery where Lester would work while doing Prelaw work in the evening.^[1]

He was the president of his class atSt. John's University School of Law and graduated in 1936. Afterwards, he went into private practice in Queens.

Holtzman had sought political jobs for several years; once receiving an offer from theFederal Housing Administration. He ran for Congress in1952, a year that sawDwight Eisenhower sweep into the White House and theRepublicans picked up 22 seats in the House of Representatives. His opponent wasRobert Tripp Ross, an incumbent who had won his seat in a special election a few months before.^[2] During the campaign, he promised that he would cease takeoffs by low-flying aircraft intoLaguardia Airport, which was in the district. Holtzman admitted later this was a lie and was the only lie he consciously told in his career. He defeated Ross by a close 300 votes becoming the only Democrat to unseat a Republican that year, and the first Jewish congressman from Queens.^[1]

He defeated popular state senatorSeymour Halpern in 1954 by more than 10,000 votes and former justice Albert Buschmann in the 1956 election. In his career, Holtzman was generally a backbencher who supported civil rights, Israel and organized labor; but never introduced any legislation that was signed into law.^[1]

After his re-election in 1960, Holtzman decided to run for a seat on the state Supreme Court. The 14-year term and increased salary would give him a measure of security. He secured the nomination thanks to assistance from PresidentJohn F. Kennedy and his brotherRobert.^[1]

As a justice, he handled the first divorce case in New York after laws were reformed.^[1] In 1971, he was assigned a case that challenged New York's 1970 legalization of abortion. In Byrn v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., Holtzman ruled that Professor Robert Byrn ofFordham University could act as a guardian for the unborn, which afforded him legal standing to file suit overturn the state's abortion law. He also entered an order for the city hospitals toshow cause why they should not cease abortion procedures while the law was being challenged.^[3]

In 1972, Byrn's challenge was decided by an opinion of the Appellate Division and theNew York Court of Appeals in which fetuses were not found to have personhood.^[4][5]

He retired from the bench in 1973 to become the president of the Queens Savings & Loan Association.^[1]

Holtzman married the former Mae Gress in 1936. They had two children, Matthew and Joy. Holtzman died inRockville, Maryland on November 12, 2002.^[1]

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress

• United States Congress."Lester Holtzman (id: H000753)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Political Graveyard
• Washington Post,Obituary, Mae Gress Holtzman, March 24, 2012

• 1913 births
• 2002 deaths
• Jewish United States representatives
• St. John's University School of Law alumni
• New York Supreme Court justices
• New York (state) lawyers
• Democratic Party United States representatives from New York (state)
• 20th-century New York state court judges
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• 20th-century New York (state) politicians
• 20th-century United States representatives

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata