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Ira Kipnis
Ira Kipnis was an American author, real estate lawyer and history professor.
A native of the Austin neighbourhood in Chicago, Illinois, he received a master’s in music from Northw...view moreIra Kipnis was an American author, real estate lawyer and history professor.
A native of the Austin neighbourhood in Chicago, Illinois, he received a master’s in music from Northwestern University in 1943. He joined the Army the next year, but shelved his musical ambitions until retirement, when he devoted himself to practicing on his Steinway.
After World War II, Kipnis entered a doctoral program in history at the University of Chicago and received a PhD in 1950. His 1952 book, “The American Socialist Movement 1897-1912,” became widely considered as an authoritative work. He also became an authority on the writings of George Bernard Shaw.
In 1953, Kipnis invoked the Fifth Amendment during Senator Joseph McCarthy’s hearings on communist activity rather than testify about the political views of colleagues. He subsequently resigned from the University faculty and entered law school. As a real estate lawyer, he helped Jupiter Realty Corp. conclude real estate transactions on, among others, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, the Drake Hotel and the McClurg Court Center.
In the 1970s Kipnis was invited back by the University of Chicago to teach Shaw’s works, in addition to courses in constitutional law and American history.
From 1983, Kipnis served on the Board of Directors for the Illinois branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
He retired in the early 1990s, but returned to real estate law after the 1995 death of his wife, Anita Sherman.
Kipnis died of cancer on May 5, 2002, at the age of 81.view less