Robert Sabonjian

Robert Vernon Sabonjian (1916–1992) was a politician who served as mayor of Waukegan, Illinois for six terms.

Early life His father, Lazarus Sabonjian, worked for American Steel and Wire Co., where he eventually became a foreman. Lazarus was born in Diyarbakır, in what was then the Ottoman Empire. He married Zaruhi. The family lived on Waukegan's South Side, the heart of the city's Armenian community. The family name means "son of a soap-maker".

As a boy, Robert—known as Bob—was a boxer and wrestler who earned the nickname "the Rock". He graduated from Waukegan Township High School and served with the Coast Guard during World War II. Together, they opened a dry-cleaning business known as Dutch Mill Cleaners.

Political career He served as mayor of Waukegan over five terms between 1957 and 1977 and again between 1985 and 1989.

In 1966, he played a controversial role in the city's unrest, during which he dismissed those involved as "junkheads and winos" and moreover blamed the NAACP. He also gave "shoot to kill" orders to police.

He was initially affiliated with the Democratic Party. He ran a write-in campaign for United States Senate in 1966 against Paul Douglas and Charles Percy. He also called for sending unwed mothers to jail and placing their children in orphanages. Of police tactics in response to riots, he called for "animals" to be treated like animals. He assured voters that they need not spell his name correctly to have their vote count for him.

In 1969, he changed his affiliation to Republican in 1969 after the Democratic Party refused to endorse him for a fourth term. He subsequently won with 75 percent of the vote.

In 1971, Sabonjian was subject to allegations of corruption, including collusion with gambling and prostitution interests.

In 1977, he lost the mayoral election to reformer Bill Morris. He left a photo of himself in the office with a note reading, "Good luck, you Irish S.O.B. Bob."

During his political comeback in 1985, Sabonjian boasted of how his supporters "came to the polls like locusts to vote for Bob Sabonjian." Sabonjian was also part of a plan to construct a stadium for the Chicago Bears on Waukegan's west side.

Haig Paravonian took over the office of mayor after Sabonjian retired in 1989.

Sabonjian's name was read in the Congressional Record by US Representative Robert McClory as a shining example of Waukegan's Armenian community and in commemoration of the formation of the Armenian Republic in 1918.