Abzug, Bella Savitsky [key], 1920–98, U.S. politician, b. New York City. A lawyer and a Democrat, she helped found Women Strike for Peace (1961) and the reformist New Democratic Coalition (1968). Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York in 1970, she was a leader of the House antiwar movement and a vigorous proponent of women's rights. In 1976 she lost a Senate primary to Daniel P. Moynihan. In 1977 she retired from the House and lost the New York City mayoral primary to Edward I. Koch; she later was unsuccessful in her attempts to win a new House seat. Abzug also founded and headed the Women's Environment and Development Organization.
See her Bella! Ms. Abzug Goes to Washington (ed. by M. Ziegler, 1972) and Gender Gap 1984 (with M. Kelber, 1984); biography by L. R. Zarnow (2019).
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