Roland V. Libonati

Roland Victor Libonati (December 29, 1900 – May 30, 1991) was a United States Representative from Illinois.

Libonati was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from the Lewis Institute in 1918. During World War I, he served as a lieutenant in the United States Army. After the war, Libonati returned to school, graduating from the University of Michigan in 1921 and from the Northwestern University Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 1924.

Libonati was admitted to the bar in 1924 and commenced law practice in Chicago. He was the founder and owner of the American Boys' Camp for indigent children at Coloma, Wisconsin, and, infamously, was also lawyer to Al Capone. He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1930 to 1934 from 1940 to 1942, and the Illinois Senate from 1942 to 1947. He served as delegate to every state Democratic convention from 1942 to 1987.

Libonati was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James B. Bowler. He was reelected to the Eighty-sixth, Eighty-seventh, and the Eighty-eighth Congresses (December 31, 1957 – January 3, 1965). He was not a candidate for renomination to the Eighty-ninth Congress in 1964.

Following his political career, he resumed the practice of law. He was a resident of Chicago, Illinois, until his death on May 30, 1991. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois.