Helen Levitov Sobell (March 13, 1918 - April 15, 2002) was an American teacher, scientist and activist, and the former wife of convicted spy

Morton Sobell Morton Sobell (April 11, 1917 – December 26, 2018) was an American engineer and Soviet spy during and after World War II; he was charged as part of a conspiracy which included Julius Rosenberg and his wife. Sobell worked on military and gover ...

. She petitioned but failed to save

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...

from execution for conspiracy to commit espionage.

Biography

Helen Levitov was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Her parents, Max and Rose, were

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

-speaking Jews from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

who immigrated to the United States in 1909 and 1908, respectively. As a child, she contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

. During her lifetime, she attended

Wilson Teachers College The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

. Throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

she worked at the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

as a

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the ...

technician. In 1938, Levitov married Clarence Darrow Gurewitz. They divorced seven years later, in 1945. Levitov went to work at the General Electric Company in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, where she met, then married,

. Levitov Sobell then studied physics at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1947 and was, three years later, awarded an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in physics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. After being accused of spying, she and her husband fled to Mexico. They were abducted on August 16, 1950, by Mexican agents and turned over to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

. She was not prosecuted, but her husband was convicted of "conspiracy to commit espionage" and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. She campaigned to save the Rosenbergs from execution, raising more than $1 million for their defense. She also fought to have her husband's conviction overturned, filing eight unsuccessful appeals and even leasing the main stage at Carnegie Hall where she hosted the "Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell" on May 15, 1956. In 1956, she published a book of poems, ''You, Who Love Life''. She then taught science at the

Elisabeth Irwin High School The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive ...

. Her husband was released from prison in 1969. In 1980, at the age of 62, she earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in computer education from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

. The Sobells separated in 1980. They formally divorced the following year, after which she moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. There, she taught briefly at

Contra Costa College Contra Costa College is a public community college in San Pablo, California. It is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college systems in Califor ...

before retiring. She also became an active member of the

Gray Panthers The Gray Panthers are a series of multi-generational local advocacy networks in the United States which confront ageism and many other social justice issues. The organization was formed by Maggie Kuhn in response to her forced retirement from th ...

. After living with

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

for a decade, she died on April 15, 2002, at a nursing home in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobell, Helen Levitov 1918 births 2002 deaths Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in California American women poets American people of Russian-Jewish descent General Electric people Poets from Washington, D.C. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Elder rights activists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Teachers College, Columbia University alumni