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Victor L. Berger
Victor Luitpold Berger (February 28, 1860 – August 7, 1929) was an Austrian-American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. Born in the Austrian Empire (present-day Romania), Berger immigrated to the United States as a young man and became an important and influential socialist journalist in Wisconsin. He helped establish the so-called Sewer Socialist movement, and also sparked the American Socialist Party's nativist turn. In 1910, he was elected as the first Socialist to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing a district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1919, Berger was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for publicizing his anti-interventionist views and was denied the seat to which he had been reelected in the House of Representatives. The criminal verdict was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court in 1921 in Berger v. United States. Berger was subsequently elected to three successive terms in the 1920s, for which he was seated.
Berger was born into a Jewish family on February 28, 1860, in Nieder-Rehbach, Austrian Empire (modern Romania). He was the son of Julia and Ignatz Berger. He attended the Gymnasium at Leutschau (today in Slovakia), and the major universities of Budapest and Vienna. In 1878, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, settling near Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Berger's wife, Meta, later claimed that Berger had left Austria-Hungary to avoid conscription into the military.
In 1881, Berger settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home to a large population of German Americans and a very active labor movement. Berger joined the Socialist Labor Party (then headed by Daniel de Leon). In 1892, Berger became the editor of Milwaukee Arbeiter-Zeitung, and changed its name to Vorwärts! He also served as editor of another paper: Die Wahrheit [The Truth]. Berger taught German in the public school system. His future father-in-law was the school commissioner.
Berger was a member of the Milwaukee Turners and was elected leader of the South Side Turners in 1889.
In 1897, he married a former student, Meta Schlichting, an active socialist organizer in Milwaukee. For many years, she was a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. The couple raised two daughters, Doris (who later went on to write television shows such as General Hospital, with her husband Frank) and Elsa, speaking only German in the home. The parents were strongly oriented to European culture.
Berger was credited by trade union leader Eugene V. Debs for having won him over to the cause of socialism. Jailed for six months for violating a federal anti-strike injunction in the 1894 strike of the American Railway Union, Debs turned to reading:
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Victor L. Berger
Victor Luitpold Berger (February 28, 1860 – August 7, 1929) was an Austrian-American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. Born in the Austrian Empire (present-day Romania), Berger immigrated to the United States as a young man and became an important and influential socialist journalist in Wisconsin. He helped establish the so-called Sewer Socialist movement, and also sparked the American Socialist Party's nativist turn. In 1910, he was elected as the first Socialist to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing a district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1919, Berger was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for publicizing his anti-interventionist views and was denied the seat to which he had been reelected in the House of Representatives. The criminal verdict was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court in 1921 in Berger v. United States. Berger was subsequently elected to three successive terms in the 1920s, for which he was seated.
Berger was born into a Jewish family on February 28, 1860, in Nieder-Rehbach, Austrian Empire (modern Romania). He was the son of Julia and Ignatz Berger. He attended the Gymnasium at Leutschau (today in Slovakia), and the major universities of Budapest and Vienna. In 1878, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, settling near Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Berger's wife, Meta, later claimed that Berger had left Austria-Hungary to avoid conscription into the military.
In 1881, Berger settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home to a large population of German Americans and a very active labor movement. Berger joined the Socialist Labor Party (then headed by Daniel de Leon). In 1892, Berger became the editor of Milwaukee Arbeiter-Zeitung, and changed its name to Vorwärts! He also served as editor of another paper: Die Wahrheit [The Truth]. Berger taught German in the public school system. His future father-in-law was the school commissioner.
Berger was a member of the Milwaukee Turners and was elected leader of the South Side Turners in 1889.
In 1897, he married a former student, Meta Schlichting, an active socialist organizer in Milwaukee. For many years, she was a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. The couple raised two daughters, Doris (who later went on to write television shows such as General Hospital, with her husband Frank) and Elsa, speaking only German in the home. The parents were strongly oriented to European culture.
Berger was credited by trade union leader Eugene V. Debs for having won him over to the cause of socialism. Jailed for six months for violating a federal anti-strike injunction in the 1894 strike of the American Railway Union, Debs turned to reading: