Kane, Irving

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KANE, IRVING

KANE, IRVING (1908–1988), U.S. attorney, businessman, and communal leader. Kane was born in Kiev, Russia, and went to America in 1913 with his parents, who settled first in Hoboken, New Jersey, and then moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917. Kane worked in a Cleveland law firm until 1937, when he established his own firm. President of the Hospital Specialty Co. of Cleveland from 1941 to 1962, he owned and operated Irving Kane Associates, a consulting firm for business and finance. Kane first entered communal service as chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of Cleveland in 1947. He served with both Jewish and non-Jewish organizations in various capacities, among them as chairman of the National Community Relations Advisory Council (1949–53), vice president of the American Jewish Congress (1956–58), and president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds (1959–62). He was a member of the campaign cabinet of the United Jewish Appeal from 1961. In 1964, Kane was one of the 29 high-profile guarantors of the newly formed Cleveland Jewish News, as well as one of the attorneys involved in negotiating the deal to create the English-language community Jewish newspaper. He also served as chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

[Hillel Halkin /

Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]