Fanny E. Holtzmann
Fanny E. Holtzmann made waves as a lawyer for stars of Broadway and Hollywood as well as luminaries of world politics. Inspired to study law by her grandfather, a Talmud scholar, Holtzmann took night classes at Fordham University’s law school and was the only woman in her graduating class. In her law practice, she represented clients including Noel Coward, Fred Astaire, and George Bernard Shaw, and defended the Romanoff family in a libel lawsuit against MGM Studios. Aside from entertainment, she was the official counsel to the representative of the Republic of China at the founding of the United Nations, helped fund efforts to rescue Jews from Europe during World War II, and aided various causes supporting the newly established State of Israel.
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Berkman, Edward O. The Lady and the Law: The Remarkable Story of Fanny Holtzmann (1976).
Obituary. NYTimes, February 7, 1980, D1.
NYTimes Biographical Series 11 (February 1980): 222.
WWIAJ (1938).
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