{{short description|American politician and lawyer (1906–1982)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = | image = Ben Adamowski circa 1939 (3x4).jpg | image_size = | caption = Adamowski, circa 1939 | office = Cook County State's Attorney | term_start = 1956 | term_end = 1960 | predecessor = John S. Boyle | successor = Daniel P. Ward | office1 = Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 25th district | term_start1 = 1931 | term_end1 = 1941 | predecessor1 = | successor1 = | alma_mater = DePaul University College of Law | party = Republican (since 1955) | other_party = Democratic (until 1955) | birth_date = November 20, 1906 | birth_place = | death_date = March 1, 1982 (age 75) | death_place = }}
'''Benjamin S. Adamowski''' (November 20, 1906{{snd}}March 1, 1982) was a politician and lawyer.
==Early life== His father, Max Adamowski, was an alderman in Chicago, as well as a real estate agent in Logan Square, and tavern owner.<ref name="pharaoh">{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Adam |last2=Taylor |first2=Elizabeth |title=American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation |date=2001 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-7595-2427-9 |page=74 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=nGem2g467GAC |language=en}}</ref> He graduated from DePaul University Law School in 1928.
==Career== He served in the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 25th District from 1931 through 1941.<ref>'Illinois Blue Book 1939-1940,' biographical sketch of Benjamin Adamowski, pg. 194-195</ref> In the legislature, he distanced himself from the machine politics his father had been aligned with, and aligned himself with liberal reformist governor Henry Horner.<ref name="pharaoh"/> In 1940, Adamowski unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the special U.S. Senate election.<ref>{{cite web|title=OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 5, 1940 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1939-1940 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 9, 1940|url=https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1940/PE%20and%20GE%201940.pdf|publisher=Illinois State Board of Elections|accessdate=3 September 2020|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624113817/https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?doc=Downloads/ElectionOperations/VoteTotals/Archived/1940/PE%20and%20GE%201940.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1941, Adamowski left the legislature to serve as the Corporation Counsel of Chicago under Mayor Martin H. Kennelly, a role he held for at least three years.<ref name="pharaoh"/>
He was a Democrat until 1955, when he was defeated by Richard J. Daley in the Democratic primary for mayor. In later campaigns for State's Attorney and a second bid for mayor against Daley in 1963 he ran as a Republican.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1982/03/02/page/4/article/ben-adamowski-dies-at-75-longtime-political-maverick|title=Chicago Tribune - Historical Newspapers|date=8 April 2024 |publisher=}}</ref>
He served from 1957 to 1960 as State's Attorney of Cook County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-17/news/ct-per-flash-kennedy-ohare-0317-20130317_1_bombers-edward-butch-o-hare-daleys|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610024200/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-17/news/ct-per-flash-kennedy-ohare-0317-20130317_1_bombers-edward-butch-o-hare-daleys|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 10, 2016|title=In 1963, Kennedy's dedication of O'Hare gave Daley a welcome boost|website=tribunedigital-chicagotribune|access-date=2016-05-14}}</ref> In May 1959, he uncovered a $500,000-a-year ticket-fixing scandal in Chicago Traffic Court, and indicted four court employees on corruption charges.<ref name="pharaoh"/>
He died at Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago on March 1, 1982.<ref>{{cite news|title= Ben Adamowski Mass Set for Thursday in Oak Park|work=Chicago Tribune|date= March 3, 1982|page= 13, section 4}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Cook County State's Attorney|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamowski, Ben}} Category:1906 births Category:1982 deaths Category:DePaul University College of Law alumni Category:Politicians from Chicago Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Illinois Republicans Category:Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly Category:Cook County state's attorneys