Mario Umana (May 5, 1914 – April 27, 2005) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and judge.

Career

A native of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent, Umana graduated from

East Boston High School East Boston High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of East Boston in Boston, Massachusetts. Specifically, the school is situated in the Eagle Hill Historic District. East Boston High is part of the Boston Public Scho ...

in 1932, the same year as

Adio diBiccari Adio diBiccari (1914 – January 1, 2009) was an American sculptor. Career DiBiccari was born in Revere to Italian immigrants, but grew up in East Boston and graduated from East Boston High School in 1932. He received a full scholarship to the ...

. Umana then went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and graduated from both their

College A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

in 1936 and

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

in 1941. He practiced

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

, and also joined the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Umana began his polticial career by serving in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

as a Democrat from 1949 to 1952. He was then elected to the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

for the 2nd Suffolk District from 1953 to 1958, and then from 1961 to 1973, which included tenures as the

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

and

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

. Umana as succeeded by

Michael LoPresti Jr. Michael LoPresti Jr. was an American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1973 to 1993. LoPresti was born on April 30, 1947, in Boston. His father, Michael LoPresti Sr., was a member of the Massachusetts Senate from ...

In 1964, Umana unsuccessfully ran in the

1964 Massachusetts gubernatorial election The 1964 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent Governor Endicott Peabody ran for re-election, but was defeated by then-Lieutenant Governor Francis X. Bellotti in the Democratic Party primary. Bellotti went ...

. Umana returned to law in 1973 by becoming a judge for the

Boston Municipal Court The Boston Municipal Court (BMC), officially the Boston Municipal Court Department of the Trial Court, is a department of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The court hears criminal, civil, mental health, restr ...

until retirement in 1991. The Mario Umana Academy in

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and dow ...

was named in his honor. Umana died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United State ...

in Boston in 2005.

Personal life

Umana married Anne T. Nigro, with whom he resided in the

Orient Heights Orient Heights is a historic section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood. The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 ...

area of East Boston. The couple had two daughters: Anne and Jeanne.

References

External links

Boston Globe obitiuary
1914 births 2005 deaths People from East Boston, Boston Politicians from Boston American judges American politicians of Italian descent United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Massachusetts state court judges Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators Deaths from pneumonia in Massachusetts 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub