Esther Shemitz
| Esther Shemitz | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
June 25, 1900 New York City, New York |
| Died | August 16, 1986 (aged 86) Westminster, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Esther Shemitz, Mrs. Whittaker Chambers |
| Education | Rand School, Leonardo da Vinci Art School |
| Alma mater | Art Students League |
| Occupation | Artist (painter), illustrator |
| Years active | 1925–1980 |
| Known for | Testified for husband Whittaker Chambers during Hiss Case |
| Spouse(s) | Whittaker Chambers |
| Children | daughter, son |
| Parent(s) | Rose Thorner, Benjamin Shemitz |
| Relatives | Reuben Shemitz (brother), Nathan Levine (nephew), Sylvan Shemitz (nephew) |
| Website | whittakerchambers |
Esther Shemitz (1900–1986), also known as "Esther Chambers" and "Mrs. Whittaker Chambers," was a 20th-Century American painter and illustrator who, as wife of ex-Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers, provided testimony that "helped substantiate" her husband's allegations during the Hiss Case.
Shemitz was born on June 25, 1900, in New York City. She was the youngest child of Rabbi Benjamin Shemitz and Rose Thorner. The family soon moved from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, where they ran a candy store. The family had immigrated to the U.S. in the 1890s from the "Podolsk Province."
In the late 1910s, Shemitz attended the Rand School. At Rand in the same period were Nerma Berman, the wife of the Soviet spy Cy Oggins, and CPUSA Fosterite Carrie Katz, the first wife of philosopher Sidney Hook.. In May 1920, Algernon Lee, educational director, presided over the graduation of the second-largest class ever at Rand, whose members included: John J. Bardsley, William D. Bavelaar, Annie S. Buller, Louis Cohan, Harry A. Durlauf, Clara Friedman, Rebecca Goldberg, William Greenspoon, Isabella E. Hall, Ammon A. Hennsey (Ammon Hennacy), Hedwig Holmes, Annie Kronhardt, Anna P. Lee, Victoria Levinson, Elsie Lindenberg, Selma Melms, Hyman Neback, Bertha Ruvinsky, Celia Samorodin, Mae Schiff, Esther T. Shemitz, Nathan S. Spivak, Esther Silverman, Sophia Ruderman, and Clara Walters.
During the early 1920s, Shemitz took a job at a chapter of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, ILGWU, under Juliet Stuart Poyntz in return for a stipend to the Leonardo da Vinci Art School.
In 1926, Shemitz roomed on East 11 Street on the Lower East Side with writer Grace Lumpkin and they both worked at The World Tomorrow magazine. She also served as the advertising manager at the New Masses in 1926. In December 1926, on behalf of the World Tomorrow, Shemitz took Rebecca West to see the Passaic Textile Strike: at the Botany Worsted Mills, Shemtiz was beaten and arrested along with Sophie Shulman of the New Masses magazine and Sender Garlin (another reporter, probably with the Daily Worker).
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