Carmen Warschaw

Who is Carmen Warschaw?

Carmen Warschaw was an American philanthropist, politician, and leading figure within the state Democratic Party in California. She was also a former member of the Democratic National Committee and chairwoman of the Southern California Democratic Party. A champion of Democratic politics, political opponents in both parties were known to call her "The Dragon Lady."

Warschaw was the daughter of immigrants and an alumna of the University of Southern California.

Carmen Warschaw was first woman to chair the California Fair Employment Practices Commission, which was founded in 1959 to combat discrimination in housing and employment.

She and her late husband of 63 years, Louis Warschaw, helped to establish the USC Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life at the University of Southern California. The University of Southern California Chair in Practical Politics is also named for the Warschaws through their endowment. Her philanthropic work extended to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center bears her family's name.

She was named Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles Times in 1976.