Vol. 24, No. 23	May 19, 1999

Fanny Kupietzky, 93, Makes Trip From Miami for Her 8th Columbia Commencement

BY AMY CALLAHAN

Sitting in a wheelchair amidst the sea of visitors today will be one proud 93-year-old grandmother who made the trip from Miami to attend her eighth Columbia Commencement. Fanny Kupietzky -- known to her family lovingly as Bubi -- has come to witness her youngest grandchild, Jacob Kupietzky, recieve his bachelor's degree from Columbia College. Jacob is the eighth in a series of Fanny Kupietzky's offspring to graduate from Columbia.

"For the grandchildren, she'll do anything," Jacob explains. "She lives for the 'nachas' of her grandchildren," using the Yiddish word for consummate pride.

Jacob is the last of his generation of the Kupietzky family to graduate from Columbia, following his three older brothers (also College graduates), and various other Kupietzkys who are alumni of Columbia's schools of medicine, business and Barnard and Columbia Colleges.

"I think she feels very proud that her children and grandchildren are able to 'make it' and the definition of 'making it' is getting an Ivy League education," Jacob said.

Fanny Kupietzky was born in Poland and came to the United States when she was a teenager. She married a rabbi, Jacob Kupietzky, and with him ran a catering business. In their Crown Heights home, they raised three sons and one daughter.

She has lived in Miami for many years now and returns to New York only for weddings and Columbia Commencements, which have come to serve as Kupietzky family reunions.