 henry spira (19 june 1927 â 12 september 1998) was a belgian-american animal rights advocate, widely regarded as one of the most effective animal advocates of the 20th century.singer, in spira and singer 2006, pp. 214â215. working with animal rights international, a group he founded in 1974, spira is particularly remembered for his successful campaign in 1976 against animal testing at the american museum of natural history, where cats were being experimented on for sex research, and for his full-page advertisement in 1980 in the new york times that featured a rabbit with sticking plaster over the eyes, and the caption, "how many rabbits does revlon blind for beauty's sake?" ==background== ===early life=== spira was born in antwerp, belgium to maurice spira and margit spitzer spira. maurice and his father had worked in the diamond trade; his mother's father, in hungary, had risen to become chief rabbi of hamburg. the family was comfortable financially; henri had a nanny and was educated at a french-speaking lycÃ©e. when he was 10, his father went to panama, and the rest of the family moved to germany to live with margit's family. spira joined a jewish youth group and began to learn hebrew.singer 2000 his father sent for them in 1938; he had opened a store selling cheap clothes and jewellery, mostly to sailors, and germany was an increasingly unsafe place for jews. henry was sent to a roman catholic school run by nuns, where lessons were conducted in spanish, until his father ran out of money and could no longer afford the fees. he spent the next year working in his father's store.singer 2000 ===new york and hashomer hatzair=== when he was thirteen, in december 1940, the family set sail for new york via havana on the ss copiapo. his father worked in the diamond industry there, and they rented an apartment on west 104th street. henry was sent to public school. he continued to study hebrew â paying for lessons himself with vacation jobs â had his bar mitzvah ceremony, and wore a kippah. in 1943, while at stuyvesant high school, he became involved with [[ha
1927_births 1998_deaths American_Jews American_activists American_people_of_Belgian-Jewish_descent American_socialists Animal_rights_advocates Anti-vivisection_movement Belgian_Jews Belgian_emigrants_to_the_United_States People_from_Antwerp