Politics / Law
Louis Miriani
1897–1987 · lawyer, city council president, mayor of Detroit
Legal aid lawyer and council president who succeeded Albert Cobo in 1957, completed Cobo Hall and the Civic Center, and remains Detroit's most recent Republican mayor.
- Born
- Died
Pontiac, Michigan
aged 90- Birth name
- Louis C. Miriani
- Also known as
- Louis C. Miriani
- Detroit years
- 1920s–1970
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Louis Miriani, an Italian American, graduated from the University of Detroit law school and headed the Detroit Legal Aid Bureau, first as chief counsel and then as director. Elected to the City Council in 1947, he was its president from 1949 until 1957, when Mayor Albert Cobo died in office and Miriani took over. He won a full term that fall by a six-to-one margin. He finished the big federally funded urban renewal projects Cobo had begun, including Cobo Hall and other parts of the riverfront Civic Center, and expanded the city's infrastructure. He also cracked down hard on crime; the UAW endorsed him as a law-and-order conservative, but many Black Detroiters blamed his police for brutal sweeps. In 1961 young Jerome Cavanagh upset him with strong Black support. Miriani returned to the council in 1965, but in 1969 he was convicted of federal income tax evasion and served 294 days in prison. He died in Pontiac in 1987.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1957–1962
- Most recent Republican mayor of Detroit
- President of the Detroit City Council, 1949–1957
- Completed Cobo Hall and the Civic Center