Abraham feller

Abraham Feller

Abraham Howard Feller was a close personal friend of Alger Hiss who, while the Chief Legal Counsel to the United Nations, committed suicide on November 13, 1952 by jumping out of a window at 50 Central Park West in New York City, falling 13 stories.

Feller was a 1925 graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School grad of 1928. Feller's death is similar to that of Laurence Duggan, another friend of Alger Hiss. Duggan and Hiss, according to mainstream historical consensus, were Soviet spies and agents of influence working for the Soviet Union.

Feller's death was blamed on the McCarran Committee. Feller's widow Alice said he had been ill from a 'nervous condition.'

Three popular explanations were given as to why Feller committed suicide:

1. The Senate investigation of American UN employees, even though Feller had not been questioned and was not under suspicion.
2. Trygve Lie's decision to resign as UN Secretary General.
3. The electoral defeat of Adlai Stevenson in the U.S. Presidential contest of 1952, where Dwight Eisenhower was elected.

UN Secretary General Lie blamed the McCarran Committee for Feller's suicide. The Chief UN Security Officer Frank Begley said that Feller's "loyalty had not been under suspicion."

Feller served at the Department of Justice as an assistant Attorney General from 1934-1940. Feller then served as a special consultant to the National Defense Mediation Board and Lend-Lease in 1941. Feller also worked for the Office of War Information. Feller was a member of the American delegation to the founding conference of the UN, where Alger Hiss served as the Secretary General. Feller managed a team of 52 attorneys at the United Nations. He had worked at the UN since 1946, and married Alice Klein in 1932. He had one daughter, Caroline.