Anton Joseph Cermak
35th Mayor of Chicago
Party:
Democrat
Elected:
February 24, 1931 (primary)
Defeated John B. De Voney
April 7, 1931 (general)
Defeated William Hale Thompson (Republican)
Inauguration:
April 9, 1931: Inaugural Address
Term of office:
1931-1933
Birth:
May 9, 1873
Kladno, Czechoslovakia
Personal:
1874 – Spent first birthday at Ellis Island
Worked as a miner until fired in 1891
1894 – Married Mary Horejs; together they had 3 daughters
Went into business for himself, first selling wood, then in trucking, also worked in banking
1902 – Elected to Illinois legislature, re-elected 3 times
1909 – Elected to Chicago City Council
1912 – Elected bailiff of Municipal court
1922 – Elected president of Cook county board, re-elected twice
1933 – February 15, upon being shot, told president-elect Roosevelt, “I’m glad it was me instead of you.”
1933 – March 20, assassin Giuseppe Zangara executed in electric chair in Miami
Death:
March 6, 1933 (shot in Miami on February 15, 1933)
Miami, FL
Gravesite:
Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago
Sources:
Grossman, James R., Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff, editors. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 24, 1928, pg. 16.
Chicago Daily Tribune, March 6, 1933, pg. 1+.
Chicago Daily Tribune, March 7, 1933, pg. 4.
Chicago Daily Tribune, March 21, 1933, pg. 5.