Mark Elliott Talisman (July 16, 1941 – July 11, 2019) was a
United States Chief Congressional Aide and
Legislative Procedural Expert. As an aide to
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
Congressman
Charles Vanik
Charles Albert Vanik (April 7, 1913 – August 30, 2007) was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1955 to 1981.
Early life
Vanik was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Stella (née ...
, he was considered to have played an instrumental role in securing passage of the 1974
Jackson–Vanik amendment
The Jackson–Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 is a 1974 provision in United States federal law intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Soviet Bloc) that restrict freed ...
, which enabled the right of
Soviet Jews to emigrate from the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. In 1975 he created the Washington Action Office of the
Jewish Federations of North America
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...
and served as its director for 18 years. He was also active in
Holocaust Survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...
affairs, as Founding Vice Chairman of the
Holocaust Memorial Council, which later became the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
appointed him as Vice Chairman, alongside
Eli Wiesel, who served as chairman. The
Holocaust Museum Memorial Council was wholly responsible for the establishment of the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
, in
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
.
Early life and education
Talisman was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, on July 16, 1941.
His father operated a gas station and his mother worked as a secretary.
The family were members of Temple Emanu-el.
Talisman served as president of the
International Junior Red Cross when he was 14.
[ He was also a graduate of Cleveland's John Adams High School.]
He attended Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
on a full scholarship, earning his bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in European History in 1963. He completed his master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
in 1972. In 1971–1972 he was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics
The Institute of Politics (IOP) is an institute of Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University that was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and to inspire Harvard undergraduates to consider careers in politics and ...
, where he created a seminar program for newly elected members of Congress.
Political career
Talisman was appointed as an administrative assistant to Congressman Charles Vanik
Charles Albert Vanik (April 7, 1913 – August 30, 2007) was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1955 to 1981.
Early life
Vanik was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Stella (née ...
( 22nd congressional district of Ohio) in 1966, becoming the youngest administrative assistant ever appointed to a member of Congress. As Vanik's aide, Talisman is considered to have played an instrumental role in securing passage of the 1974 Jackson–Vanik amendment
The Jackson–Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 is a 1974 provision in United States federal law intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Soviet Bloc) that restrict freed ...
, the bill that enabled the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. When the bill passed and President Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
was ready to sign it, Talisman's wife Jill was in labor with the couple's daughter, Jessica, at the Columbia Hospital for Women
The Columbia Hospital for Women was a former hospital located in Washington, D.C. Originally opening in 1866 as a health-care facility for wives and widows of Civil War soldiers, it moved in 1870 from Thomas Circle to its later location at 2425 L ...
, located three blocks from the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
. Ford delayed the signing ceremony until the baby was safely delivered, and sent a car to bring Talisman from the hospital to the White House to witness the signing.
During his congressional service, Talisman produced a television series titled ''Operation Government''. In 40 half-hour episodes, the series explored the "history and operations of the federal government and how the three branches of government interact with each other".[ He was one of the chief organizers of the Bipartisan Congressional Clearinghouse in 1970 that utilized college interns to support Congressional “peace candidates” during the Vietnam war.
In 1975 Talisman left Vanik's office and created the Washington Action Office of the ]Jewish Federations of North America
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...
.[ He served as its director for the next 18 years.]
In the late 1970s, Talisman served on the presidential commission that recommended creation of a national memorial to the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. In 1980 he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to serve as vice chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Museum Council, under chairman Elie Wiesel
Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...
. After the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...
opened, Talisman served on its Committee on Conscience, which oversees genocide-prevention efforts.
Project Judaica Foundation
In 1983, Jill and Mark Talisman created the Project Judaica Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the mission of rescuing and exhibiting historic or endangered Jewish artifacts. The Foundation was instrumental in bringing ''The Precious Legacy
''The Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections'' was one of the names for a travelling exhibition of History of the Jews in the Czech Republic, Czech Jewish art and ritual objects that opened at The Whitworth in ...
'' exhibition to the United States in 1983. The Foundation collaborated with the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
to produce the 1987 touring exhibition ''From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress'' in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Library's Hebraic collection. The Foundation was also instrumental in arranging for the Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
to display the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
in 1994; this was the first official Israeli exhibit to be shown at the Vatican. The Foundation has worked with the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
to sponsor the work of curators and scholars recovering and preserving surviving but neglected Jewish art, artifacts, and buildings in Poland.
Other activities
In the late 20th century, Talisman worked as a consultant for emerging democratic countries. He advised Corazon Aquino
María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...
on the development of the Philippines constitution during the 1986 Yellow Revolution, and was an advisor to Vaclav Havel on the creation of Czechoslovakia's constitution.[ He also assisted the ]Hopi
The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...
Indians with funding a hospital on their reservation.[
In 2000 he advised on the founding of Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, a national coalition of Holocaust survivors and survivor groups.]
Personal life
Talisman married Jill Leslie Dworkin in May 1972. The couple had a son and daughter. Talisman's hobbies included photography, sculpting, cooking, and gardening.[ The vegetable garden in the family's ]Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...
, property, where Talisman spent many hours every week during the growing season, was locally famous.
Talisman died at his home in Chevy Chase on July 11, 2019, aged 77.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talisman, Mark E.
1941 births
2019 deaths
Activists from Ohio
20th-century American Jews
American lobbyists
Harvard University alumni
Jewish American activists
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Politicians from Cleveland
United States congressional aides
John Adams High School (Ohio) alumni
21st-century American Jews