orig. Morris Hillkowitz
born Aug. 1, 1869, Riga, Latvia
died Oct. 7, 1933, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. socialist leader.
He immigrated to the U.S. in 1886, joined the Socialist Labor Party, and helped found the United Hebrew Trades in 1888. When the party split, he led a moderate faction to help form the Social Democratic Party, which in 1901 became the Socialist Party. As the party's chief theoretician, he defined its position of pacifism during World War I and defended many socialists in court. He was twice the Socialist Party's unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York (1917, 1932).