Zolton Ferency

Zolton Ferency
Ferency in 1978
Member of the East Lansing City Council
In office
1991 – March 23, 1993
Member of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners
In office
1981–1982
Personal details
Born(1922-06-30)June 30, 1922
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 1993(1993-03-23) (aged 70)
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
PartyDemocratic Party (before 1970, after 1976)
Human Rights Party (1970–1976)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic Socialists of America

Zolton Anton Ferency (June 30, 1922 – March 23, 1993) was an American lawyer, political activist and professor of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University (MSU).[1]

Biography

Ferency was born in Detroit, Michigan, in a Hungarian-American family. He served in World War II, and graduated from Michigan State University and the Detroit College of Law.

Ferency was a three-time chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party serving from 1963 to 1968.[2][1] He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of Michigan in 1966, when he was defeated, as expected,[3] by George W. Romney. He also served as first President of the Human Rights Party, which he helped found in 1970[4] after breaking with the Democratic Party over its support for the Vietnam War.[1] He rejoined the Democrats in 1976.[1] He was also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.[5]

Ferency was elected to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners in 1980, and to the East Lansing City Council in 1991.[4] He was serving on the city council at his death.[1] He was a frequent if unsuccessful candidate for other public offices, running for governor in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, and 1982; for Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1972, 1976, and 1986; and for the Michigan Senate, 24th District, in 1990.

Ferency taught criminal justice at MSU from 1971 until his retirement in 1990.[1]

Ferency lived in East Lansing, Michigan. He died on March 23, 1993, in Lansing, Michigan.[1]

The Ferency House in the Michigan State University Student Housing Cooperative[6] and the Zolton Ferency Endowed Scholarship[4] at MSU commemorate Ferency.

References

Specific

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Howe, Marvine (March 26, 1993). "Zolton Ferency Dies; Political Champion Of Liberals Was 70". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Democratic Party of Michigan records, 1932-2013 (majority within 1950-2012)". University of Michigan Library. Retrieved August 17, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Michigan: What Is a Romney?". TIME Magazine. November 4, 1966. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Zolton Ferency Endowed Scholarship". Michigan State University. Archived from the original on April 21, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ Fleischman, Harry (January 1983). "On The Left". Democratic Left. Vol. XI, no. 1. p. 14. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Ferency House". Michigan State University. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.

General

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