Frankfurter, Felix

(1882–1965)

   US Supreme Court judge and Zionist. Frankfurter was one of the Jewish immigrant boys who rose to distinguished positions in American life. His family arrived from Vienna and settled in the Lower East Side of New York when he was twelve years old. After a brilliant degree from Harvard Law School, he worked as an assistant to Henry L.Stimson when the latter was United States Attorney in New York and then secretary of war in Washington.

   In 1914, Frankfurter was appointed to the chair of administrative law at Harvard. During the New Deal period he was a friend and adviser of President Franklin D.Roosevelt, but was unwilling to accept an official post in the administration. In 1939, Roosevelt appointed him to a vacancy on the US Supreme Court and he remained on the bench until he retired in 1962. Though he belonged to the liberal wing of the court, together with Judge BRANDEIS, his judicial philosophy called for a balance between the civil liberties of the individual and a respect for judicial process and the needs of organized society. Felix Frankfurter was drawn into the Zionist movement through Brandeis. In 1919, he acted as legal adviser to the Zionist delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. Through T.E.Lawrence he met the main Arab spokesman, Emir FEISAL I, and helped Dr WEIZMANN work out with Feisal a basis for Arab- Jewish understanding and co-operation that was reduced to writing and signed. In a famous letter addressed to Frankfurter, Feisal affirmed his belief that the Arab and Jewish national movements complemented each other, and welcomed the return of the Jews to their homeland.

   Soon after, in 1921, the Zionist movement split on policy differences between Weizmann and the American group led by Brandeis and Julian Mack, who withdrew from active participation. After that Frankfurter no longer held any official Zionist position. However, he remained personally involved, visited Palestine several times, and took a special interest in the Hebrew University. His memoirs were published in 1960 under the title Felix Frankfurter Reminisces.