Harry Sagansky
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Harry J. Sagansky | |
---|---|
Born | Boston, Massachusetts, US | January 6, 1898
Died | January 28, 1997 | (aged 99)
Alma mater | Tufts University |
Occupation | Mobster |
Harry J. "Doc" Sagansky (January 6, 1898 – January 28, 1997) was an American crime boss of Jewish descent. Active in Boston, Sagansky controlled one of city's largest bookmaking operations during the 1950s. He is also the oldest American Mafia associate to serve a federal prison sentence at the age of 91.
Biography
Growing up in Boston, Massachusetts, to first generation Jewish-American immigrants from Lithuania, Sagansky sold newspapers while working his way through school and eventually graduating in dentistry from Tufts University in 1918. Opening a practice at a pharmacy which doubled as a covert liquor store at Scollay Square, he would become involved in illegal gambling during Prohibition.
By 1931, he began investing in several businesses, including part ownership of two Boston nightclubs. He also operated a loan agency, which authorities suspected was worth an estimated $90 million.[
During the 1950s, his involvement in illegal gambling operations was investigated by the
Throughout his life, Sagansky was a philanthropist, donating money to Beth Israel Hospital and to Tufts Dental School. He was an early, and major, contributor to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel.
He died of natural causes in 1997 at Beth Israel Hospital, aged 99. He was survived by three sons, a daughter, eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
References
- ^ "Heads of Boston Police Indicted in Plot to Permit Gaming Houses; Heads of Police Indicted in Boston" (PDF). The New York Times. March 28, 1943. p. 1.(subscription required)
Further reading
- ISBN 0-316-35955-6
External links
- South Coast Today - Obituaries: Harry Sagansky, 99
- James Brann (April 1997). "A 'Philanthropist' Dies". American Journalism Review.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120811035130/http://www.bostonhitman.com/Harry%20(Doc%20Jasper)%20Sagansky.htm
- Harry Sagansky v. United States of America, on Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For the First Circuit