Musmanno, Michael Angelo

Musmanno, Michael Angelo (1897–1968) judge, author; born in Stowe Township, Pa. He served in both World War I (infantryman) and World War II (lieutenant commander to rear admiral). He earned a total of seven academic degrees and was a successful, if controversial, lawyer in Pittsburgh, Pa. He tried to reverse the verdict that condemned Sacco and Vanzetti to death (1927), was a member of the team appointed to ascertain whether Adolf Hitler had died in Berlin, was a judge at the Nuremberg War Trials (1946), and was a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1961). He was judge of the court of common pleas in Allegheny County, Pa. (1934–40), and a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (1951–68). A staunch anti-Communist, he cowrote the Communist Control Act of 1954. He also wrote Ten Days to Die (1956) and Columbus Was First (1966).