Bella Savitsky Abzug

Abzug, Bella Savitsky (səvĭtˈskē ăbˈzo͝og), 1920–98, U.S. politician, b. New York City. A lawyer and a Democrat, she helped found Women Strike for Peace (1961) and the reformist New Democratic Coalition (1968). Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York in 1970, she was a leader of the House antiwar movement and a vigorous proponent of women's rights. In 1976 she lost a Senate primary to Daniel P. Moynihan. In 1977 she retired from the House and lost the New York City mayoral primary to Edward I. Koch; she later was unsuccessful in her attempts to win a new House seat. Abzug also founded and headed the Women's Environment and Development Organization.