Dr. Lee Kaufer Frankel who died Saturday after a sudden heart attack at the Hotel Bristol, Paris, achieved world-wide distinction as a health authority and a leader in social service. In the Jewish world he was known for a lifetime of devotion to activities that culminated in his vigorous association with the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
Dr. Frankel was born in Philadelphia on August 13, 1867, the son of Louis and Aurelia Lobenburg Frankel. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained his degree of bachelor of science and, in 1891, the degree of doctor of philosophy. From 1888 until 1893 he also taught at his alma mater as an instructor in the department of chemistry. For the following six years he was a consulting chemist and an associate (and later president) of the chemical section of the Franklin Institute.
HEALTH AUTHORITY
Subsequently his activities in charity organization and with the Russell Sage Foundation led to his connection with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. His widespread educational campaigns for the promotion of health and the extension of the life span won him a general recognition as an outstanding authority in the field. By the time he became second vice-president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. his fame as an international authority was secure.
Dr. Frankel participated in numerous activities of a public character. In 1903 he was appointed by President Roosevelt to membership in the Ellis Island Commission. Another official appointment came to him as commissioner of the State Board of Charities; and still another as welfare director of the Post Office Department. Recently President Hoover selected him for the White House Conference on Child Health and Welfare.
Dr. Frankel was a leading figure and frequently an officer in numerous health welfare associations such as the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the American Public Health Association, the Life Extension Institute, the New York State Conference of Charities and Correction, the Survey Associates, the National Health Council and the National Conference of Social Work. These were in addition to his activities in Jewish welfare work that constitute a chapter of special distinction in his life story.
Dr. Frankel wrote several books and numerous brochures on welfare work and health promotion. He was the author of an and books on and On his trip to Europe which was destined to be his last, he was engaged in a study of social insurance for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
ACTIVE IN JEWISH WELFARE WORK
Dr. Frankel’s first important association with the Jewish world came in 1899 when he was called to act as manager of the United Hebrew Charities of New York. In 1912 he was president of the National Conference of Jewish Charities. After the War when the American Jewish Relief Committee was carrying on its heroic program of rehabilitation for the Jewish sufferers in the war-ravaged districts of Eastern Europe, Dr. Frankel was made chairman of a special European Commission. Before leaving for Europe on his last trip Dr. Frankel concluded a review of the medical work of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee that had saved untold lives in the Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Frankel’s most important as-Jewish endeavors came when he was drawn into the group cooperating with Dr. Chaim Weizmann, at that time President of the World Zionist Organization, in an effort to establish a union of Zionists and non-Zionists in a Jewish Agency for Palestine. In 1927 he was chairman of a commission of experts sent to report on Palestine conditions and opportunities to the leaders of the Jewish Agency. At the Zurich meeting that launched the Jewish Agency he emerged as a spokesman and leader of the American non-Zionists. He therefore participated in proposals for the economic development of Palestine and was one of the founders of the Palestine Economic Corporation. Last year he was one of the leaders of the Allied Jewish Campaign. In July of this year, he was elected Joint Chairman of the Council of the Jewish Agency, then in convention in Basle.
In 1928 the Hebrew Union College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Hebrew Laws in recognition of his considerable services to Jewish causes.
Dr. Frankel is survived by his widow the former Miss Alice Reizenstein of Philadelphia, his daughter, Mrs. Richard Rafalsky and his son Lee K. Frankel, Jr. The body is being brought to this country on the S.S. Olympic which leaves Cherbourg tomorrow.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
