Mikva, Abner J. (Abner Joseph), 1926-2016

Abner Joseph Mikva (January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor. A member of the Democratic Party, he notably served as the U.S. Representative from Illinois's 2nd (1969-1973) and 10th (1975-1979) congressional districts and as Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1979 to 1994, serving as Chief Judge from 1991 to 1994.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended the local public schools there. During World War II, he enlisted and was trained in the United States Army Air Corps, but the war ended the day before he was due to be deployed. Afterward, the GI Bill enabled Mikva to attend the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned his B.A. degree before moving to Chicago where he earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. After graduation, Mikva clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton. He also returned to Chicago and began practicing law, at a firm which became Goldberg, Devoe, Shadur & Mikva after he made partner. The firm handles labor, real estate, commercial and civil rights cases, as well as some criminal defense. He spent ten years, from 1956 to 1966, in the Illinois House of Representatives. He was defeated for reelection in 1966, but "reinvented himself" as a community activist, winning election to the United States Congress in 1968.

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