Abbie Hoffman

Abbie Hoffman
Hoffman in 1981
Born
Abbot Howard Hoffman

(1936-11-30)November 30, 1936
DiedApril 12, 1989(1989-04-12) (aged 52)
Other names
  • FREE!
  • Barry Freed
EducationWorcester Academy
Brandeis University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (MA)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • psychologist
  • speaker
  • activist
Years active1967–1989
Known forPolitical philosophy, social revolution, guerrilla theater, Civil Rights Movement, gift economics
Notable work
MovementYippie, 1960s counterculture
Spouses
  • Sheila Karklin
    (m. 1960; div. 1966)
  • (m. 1967; div. 1980)
Children3

Abbot Howard Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the Flower Power movement.[1][2]

As a member of the Chicago Seven, Hoffman was charged with and tried―for activities during the 1968 Democratic National Convention―for conspiring to use interstate commerce with intent to incite a riot and crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot under the anti-riot provisions of Title X of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.[3][4]: 4  Five of the Chicago Seven defendants, including Hoffman, were convicted of crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot;[4]: 8  all of the convictions were vacated after an appeal and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to pursue another trial.[4]: 9  Hoffman,[5] along with all of the defendants and their attorneys were also convicted and sentenced for contempt of court by the judge; these convictions were also vacated after an appeal.[4]: 9 

Hoffman continued his activism into the 1970s and remains an icon of the anti-Vietnam war movement and the counterculture era.[6][7] He died by suicide with a phenobarbital overdose in 1989 at age 52.[8]

  1. ^ Hoffman, Abbie (2009). Revolution for the Hell of It: The Book That Earned Abbie Hoffman a Five-Year Prison Term at the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. Da Capo Press. p. 114. ISBN 9780786738984.
  2. ^ McMillian, John Campbell; Buhle, Paul (2008). The New Left Revisited. Temple University Press. p. 199. ISBN 9781592137978.
  3. ^ "Indictment in the Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial". Famous Trials: Chicago Seven. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Ragsdale, Bruce A. (2008). "The Chicago Seven: 1960s Radicalism in the Federal Courts" (PDF). Federal Judicial Center.
  5. ^ Linder, Douglas O. "Contempt specifications against Abbie Hoffman". Famous Trials. UMKC School of Law.
  6. ^ "Abbie Hoffman Dies". The New York Times. April 13, 1989. The New York Times
  7. ^ Fish, Jesse (June 5, 2011). "… And the Yippies on St. Marks - The Local East Village Blog". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  8. ^ Handelman, David (June 1, 1989). "Abbie Hoffman [1936-1989]". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 24, 2022.

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