Background
Kraus, Adolf was born on February 26, 1850 in Bohemia. Son of Jonas and Ludmila Kraus.
Kraus, Adolf was born on February 26, 1850 in Bohemia. Son of Jonas and Ludmila Kraus.
He worked on a farm and in a factory, later settling in Chicago where he completed his law studies before becoming a lawyer
At the age of 15 he left the Bohemian town of Rokycany where he had grown up and emigrated to the United States. In 1897 he was the second president of the civil service commission. Kraus had close contacts to American presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson.
In his position he also helped Czechoslovakian and Jewish immigrants to the United States of America. In 1930 a commemorative plaque of Adolf Kraus was unveiled in the town of Rokycany, on the house where he spent his childhood.
However in the 1940s, during the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, the plaque was pulled down. The house (No147 in Havlíčkova ulice Street) was demolished in the 1980s.
Member Chicago Board Education, 1881-1887 (president 1884-1886).
Married Mathilde Hirsh, January 7, 1877. Children: Albert, Paula (Mistress Victor Weil), Harry, Milton.