{{Short description|American politician (1924–2023)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Vic Fischer | image = Save Our State rally featuring Portugal. the Man, July 2019 (Vic Fischer) (cropped).jpg | caption = Fischer in 2019 | order = | office = Member of the [[Alaska Senate]] | term_start = January 3, 1981 | term_end = January 3, 1987 | predecessor = [[Bill Sumner]] | successor = Rick Uehling | office1 = Member of the Alaska Territorial Legislature from the 3rd district | alongside1 = Seaborn Buckalew, Ken Johnson, [[Irene E. Ryan|Irene Ryan]], Russell Young, [[Dorothy Awes]], [[Helen Fischer]], Earl Hillstrand, Irwin Metcalf, James Norene | term_start1 = January 3, 1957 | term_end1 = January 3, 1959 | successor1 = ''Legislature abolished'' | office2 = Delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention from the 18th district | alongside2 = [[Dorothy Awes]], Seaborn Buckalew, [[William A. Egan|William Egan]], [[Helen Fischer]], John Hellenthal, Victor Rivers, Edward Davis, Marvin Marston, George McLaughlin, Chris Poulsen, Barrie White | term_start2 = November 8, 1955 | term_end2 = February 5, 1956 | office3 = Planning Director of [[Anchorage]] | term_start3 = 1950 | term_end3 = 1955 | birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=y|1924|5|2}} | birth_place = [[Berlin]], [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=y|2023|10|22|1924|5|2}} | death_place = [[Anchorage, Alaska]], U.S. | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = [[Jane Angvik]] (m. 1981) | alma_mater = [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] (BA) <br /> [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MCP) <br /> [[Harvard Kennedy School]] (MPA) | occupation = | profession = | relations = }}
'''Victor Fischer''' (May 2, 1924 – October 22, 2023) was a German-born American politician from the state of [[Alaska]]. A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention that drafted [[Constitution of Alaska|Alaska's constitution]] in 1955 and 1956. After the death of its Secretary [[Katie Hurley]] in 2021, Fischer was the last surviving participant in the constitutional convention. Fischer later served in the [[Alaska Senate]], as president of the [[University of Alaska]] Institute of Social and Economic Research, and as assistant secretary of the [[Housing and Home Finance Agency]].
==Political career== Fischer served as [[Anchorage]]'s Planning Director from 1950 to 1955. Fischer was a vocal supporter of Alaskan statehood, serving as vice president of the pro-statehood group Operation Statehood. He was elected as a delegate to the Alaskan Constitutional Convention in 1955 and was the chair of the convention's Local Government Committee, which established the [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|borough system]]. He was also elected to the final session of the Alaskan territorial legislature in 1956 and unsuccessfully sought a seat in the [[Alaska Senate]] in 1960.<ref name = oc/><ref name = obit/>
Two years later, Fischer was appointed director of the Office of Metropolitan Development in the [[Housing and Home Finance Agency]], serving in that role until 1966, when he became director of the [[University of Alaska]] Institute of Social and Economic Research. During his 10 years as director, Fischer secured funding for the [[Alaska Federation of Natives]] and helped write the [[environmental impact statement]] for the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline]].<ref name = oc/><ref name = obit/>
Fischer returned to elected office in 1980 when he ran for and won a seat in the Alaska Senate, unseating incumbent Republican [[Bill Sumner]]. Fischer was re-elected in 1982 and 1984, but lost his seat to Republican Rick Uehling in 1986, after which he never ran for office again. A lifelong liberal activist, Fischer continued campaigning for Democratic candidates and causes until the end of his life; he was the co-chair of an unsuccessful attempt to recall Alaska governor [[Mike Dunleavy (politician)|Mike Dunleavy]] in 2019.<ref name = oc/><ref name = obit/>
==Personal life== As a child, Fischer and his brother were shuffled between [[Germany]] and [[Russia]], as his parents faced persecution under the [[Soviet Union]]; the family fled to the United States in 1939. In 2000, Fischer was granted Russian citizenship by Russian president [[Boris Yeltsin]]; he was encouraged to run for governor of [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|Chukotka]], the region of Russia directly across from Alaska across the [[Bering Strait]], but declined to do so. Fischer was married to fellow politician [[Jane Angvik]] from 1981 until his death. They had one daughter, Ruth.
Fischer entered hospice care in 2023 due to poor health and died on October 22 of that year, aged 99.<ref name = oc>{{cite web |work=Our Campaigns |access-date=October 23, 2023 |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=135047 |title=Fischer, Victor}}</ref><ref name = obit>{{cite news |work=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |access-date=October 23, 2023 |last=Wohlforth |first=Charles |title=Vic Fischer, last surviving Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, dies at 99 |date=October 22, 2023 |url=https://www.adn.com/politics/2023/10/22/vic-fischer-last-surviving-alaska-constitutional-convention-delegate-dies-at-99/}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Signers of the Constitution of Alaska}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Vic}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2023 deaths]] [[Category:Delegates to Alaska's Constitutional Convention]] [[Category:Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature]] [[Category:People from Berlin]] [[Category:Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska]] [[Category:Alaska Democrats]] [[Category:Democratic Party Alaska state senators]] [[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni]] [[Category:MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni]] [[Category:Jewish American people in Alaska politics]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature]]