Ralph Moses Paiewonsky, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetRalph Moses Paiewonsky
Governor of the United States Virgin Islands
Date of Birth: 09-Nov-1907
Place of Birth: Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, United States
Date of Death: 19-Nov-1991
Profession: politician
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 
About Ralph Moses Paiewonsky
- Ralph Moses Paiewonsky (November 9, 1907, Saint Thomas, Danish West Indies – November 9, 1991, Saint Thomas, U.S.
- Virgin Islands) was a businessman and politician who served as the ninth civilian governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1961-1969. Ralph Paiewonsky was the son of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants to the Danish West Indies.
- He graduated from New York University in 1930.
- His degree was in chemistry.
- His father owned A.H.
- Riise & Co.
- Ltd.
- an apothecary, general store and a bay rum distillery in St.
- Thomas.
- After he returned to the Virgin Islands his father bought the government owned beverage rum distillery on St.
- Croix.
- Ralph Paiewonsky found out that the shortage of water limited expansion.
- He proceeded to develop yeast strains which could ferment a mixture of molasses and seawater.
- Aft He and his brother Isidor Paiewonsky managed various family businesses, and was a founder of the West Indies Bank and Trust Company in 1954.
- In 1961, he was appointed Governor by President John F.
- Kennedy. Paiewonsky's administration established the Department of Housing and Community Renewal in 1962, and began a program of land acquisition and home construction.
- Approximately 8,000 new homes were built under this program during Paiewonsky's term.
- He also supported public education reforms and the establishment of the University of the Virgin Islands in 1962.
- When he appeared on the TV show "To Tell The Truth" he donated his winnings to the University of the Virgin Islands.
- Paiewonsky served as chairman of the university's board of directors until his death; the university's library on St.
- Thomas is named for Paiewonsky. Paiewonsky was a delegate to Democratic National Conventions between 1940 and 1960, and served as National Democratic Committeeman from the Virgin Islands.
- He was awarded honorary degrees from Tufts University and Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1967.
- In 1991, he published an autobiography, "Memoirs of A Governor."
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