(1898-1974)
Inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1986
A native of Kiev, Richman graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1917 and enlisted in the army. After completing his military service, he continued his education at Trinity College, graduating in 1922 and went on to study law at Yale University Law School, receiving his degree in 1925.
At Trinity, he was an outstanding linesman and lettered on the football team, as well as a member of the track team. While a student at Yale Law School, he played semi-pro football in New Haven until a football injury ended his athletic career.
During World War II, he served as a colonel on the Judge Advocate General’s staff with the Third Army in Europe, where he played an important role in the settlement of refugees and displaced persons during the occupation of Germany. For his work in this area, he was decorated by the French and U.S. military, receiving the Bronze Star, the French Croix de guerre, the French Legion of Honor, Reconnaissance Francaise medal. After the war, he continued his activity with the reserves and was a military aide to two governors.
He practiced law in Hartford with Abraham Albrecht until 1957, when Richman became an Assistant Attorney General, a position he held until 1976. He was active in veterans’ affairs all his life, and in alumni affairs at Trinity College. He was a commander of the Hartford Post of the Jewish War Veterans and an organizer of the Hartford Veterans Council and the Hartford Reserve Officers Association.
In the Jewish community, he served as president of the Garden Street Synagogue and later as chairman of the board of the United Synagogues of Greater Hartford. He was president of the Hartford Zionist District, and chaired Hartford’s Israel Bond Drive in 1945. He was also involved with the YMHA, B’nai Brith, the Jewish Federation, the American Jewish Committee and the Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy.