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Fiorello H. LaGuardia Biography |
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (December 11, 1882 - September 20, 1947) was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945.
LaGuardia worked as a translator at Ellis Island, and attended law school at NYU. In 1916 he was elected to the New York State House of Representatives, where he developed a reputation as a fiery and devoted reformer. In Congress, LaGuardia represented then-Italian East Harlem. Extending his record as a reformer, LaGuardia sponsored labor legislation and railed against immigration quotas.
LaGuardia was elected mayor of New York City on an anti-corruption "fusion" ticket during the Great Depression. LaGuardia was the City's first Italian mayor, but LaGuardia was far from being a typical Italian New Yorker. He was Republican, Episcopalian, had grown up in Arizona, and had a Jewish mother.
LaGuardia is famous for, among other things, reading the comics on the radio during a newspaper strike, and pushing to have a commercial airport (Floyd Bennett Field, and later LaGuardia Airport) within city limits. LaGuardia Performing Arts High School and LaGuardia Community College are also named for him. |
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