Gabriel Isaac Lewis
Gabriel Isaac Lewis (1883–1938) was born at Hobart Tasmania, the son of Henry Lewis (born in Germany) and Annie Cohen (born in England). After the death of his father, the family moved to Wellington, New Zealand to live with his mother’s parents (1890). His mother married Maurice Ziman (January 1896) and the new family emigrated to New York (August 1896). In 1899, the family returned to New Zealand leaving the 16-year-old Gabriel in the United States to support himself. He is recorded as a member of the debating team of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association Literary Society (1902). He put himself through evening high school in Newark and New York, before attending Phillips Exeter Academy (1902–1905) on scholarships.
In May 1905, Gabriel Isaac Lewis applied for financial age to attend Harvard College. John C. Kirtland Jr. wrote in support of his application that he was “easily the most able and capable man coming to Harvard from Exeter this year … He is of Jewish extraction, a native of New Zealand, and entirely dependent upon himself.” He did not graduate with his Class in June 1908 because his bills were unpaid, but entered Harvard Law School in September 1908 and had his undergraduate degree conferred in March 1909. He graduated LL.B from Harvard Law School in 1911.
After graduation, Gabriel Isaac Lewis lived and practised in New York. He served in the War Department, Washington DC during American involvement in the Great War. Of this service he wrote: “In July, 1918, I almost landed in the Military Intelligence Bureau, but those in charge discovered at the last moment that I was neither military nor intelligent.” He was chairman of the ethics committee of the New York County Lawyers Association and a member of the ethics committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He died of a stroke while walking to a meeting at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. He was the brother of the sculptor Betty Lewis Isaacs.
