Michael Katzban (September 11, 1876 – July 3, 1962) was a core molder and

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

from

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who served one term as a

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member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

Background

Katzban was born in Lemont, in

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, on September 11, 1876. He came to Milwaukee in 1886, attended

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and

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s, and learned the trade of core molder, which he continued to practice. He joined the Molders Union around 1898, and held various offices in it.

Legislative service and political activity

He was elected to the Assembly's Fourteenth

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district (the 14th

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of the City of Milwaukee in 1910 to succeed

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Joseph Domachowski (who was not a candidate for re-election). Katzban earned 1,328 votes, to 1,184 for former Democratic Assemblyman John Szymarek and 440 for Republican Leo Kelpinski. He was assigned to the

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s on city living conditions and on

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. In 1912, after a

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, he ran for the Assembly in the newly-redrawn Eighth Milwaukee County district, losing to Democrat Jacob J. Litza, Jr., with 1298 votes for Litza, 1065 for Katzban, and 424 for Republican Charles Strasberger. He served as a

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in Milwaukee County in 1912, and in 1915-1916. He ran once more for the Assembly from the Eighth District in 1930, coming in second with 1,912 votes to 3,041 for Republican Ben Wiczynski and 1641 for Democratic incumbent Mary O. Kryszak. In 1945, he was elected to the

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of the Milwaukee County Socialist Party. In 1950, he was appointed as a Socialist member of the City of Milwaukee's Election Commission, and served a six-year term. In 1954, he was elected to the Party's state executive committee.

Personal life and death

At the time of his death in 1962, he had been an insurance salesman for twenty years. He left behind a widow, Rose, and a son, John Katzban, who was village manager for the Village of

Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin Whitefish Bay is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,954 at the 2020 census. A suburb north of Milwaukee along the shore of Lake Michigan, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History In th ...

."Michael Katzban" ''Milwaukee Journal'' obituary; July 3, 1962; p. 14, col. 3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katzban, Michael 1876 births 1962 deaths Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Moldmakers Politicians from Milwaukee People from Lemont, Illinois Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature