Frank Peratrovich

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Frank Peratrovich | birth_place = [[Klawock]], [[Territory of Alaska]] | birth_date = April 2, 1895 | death_date = January 4, 1984 (aged 88) | death_place = [[Ketchikan, Alaska]], U.S. | education = [[Haskell Indian Junior College]] | office = Member of the [[Alaska House of Representatives]] | term_start = 1969 | term_end = 1973 | office2 = Member of the [[Alaska Senate]] | term_start2 = 1959 | term_end2 = 1967 }}

'''Frank Peratrovich''' (April 2, 1895 – January 4, 1984) was an American businessman and politician.

==Early life and education== Born in [[Klawock, Alaska]] to parents of mixed [[Tlingit]] and [[Serbs|Serbian]] descent,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elizabeth Peratrovich Day|date=13 February 2019 |url=https://www.nicoa.org/elizabeth-peratrovich-day/|access-date=2020-12-26|language=en-US}}</ref> Peratrovich served in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. He attended the [[Haskell Indian Junior College]] in [[Lawrence, Kansas]] and the Capitol Business College in [[Portland, Oregon]].

==Career== Peratrovich worked as an accountant in Oregon for several years. He returned to Klawock, Alaska and opened the Klawock Cash Store. Peratrovich served as mayor of Klawock as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]].

In 1945–46, Peratrovich served in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives. He then served in the Alaska Territorial Senate from 1947 to 1951 and from 1957 to 1959. Peratrovich served in the first [[Constitution of Alaska|Alaska Constitutional Convention]] of 1955. From 1959 to 1967, he served in the [[Alaska Senate]]. Peratrovich served in the [[Alaska House of Representatives]] from 1969 to 1973.

He received an honorary doctorate degree of Public Service from the [[University of Alaska Anchorage]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/whos-who/alaskans/statehood-committee/peratrovich/|title=Frank Peratrovich {{!}} Creating Alaska|website=www.alaska.edu|language=en|access-date=2019-02-21}}</ref>

==Personal life== Peratrovich's brother, Roy Peratrovich, married [[Elizabeth Peratrovich]], a Native leader who led the petition for the Anti-discrimination Act of 1945 in Alaska.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/obituaries/elizabeth-peratrovich-overlooked.html|title=Overlooked No More: Elizabeth Peratrovich, Rights Advocate for Alaska Natives|date=2019-03-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-19|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He died at the Ketchikan Pioneer Home in [[Ketchikan, Alaska]] at the age of 88.<ref>[http://www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/whos-who/alaskans/statehood-committee/peratrovich/ University of Alaska: Frank Peratrovich], alaska.edu; accessed April 25, 2018.</ref><ref>"Frank Peratrovich, 88: Statehood Founder Dies", ''Sitka Daily Sentinel'', January 6, 1984, page 14</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peratrovich, Frank}} [[Category:1895 births]] [[Category:1984 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Alaska Native people]] [[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Alaska]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Alaska]] [[Category:Delegates to Alaska's Constitutional Convention]] [[Category:Haskell Indian Junior College alumni]] [[Category:Klawock, Alaska]] [[Category:Mayors of places in Alaska]] [[Category:Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives]] [[Category:Military personnel from Alaska]] [[Category:Native American mayors in Alaska]] [[Category:Native American state legislators in Alaska]] [[Category:Presidents of the Alaska Senate]] [[Category:Democratic Party Alaska state senators]] [[Category:Tlingit men]] [[Category:American people of Croatian descent]]