Biography

Zachariah Joshua Loussac was born to Jewish parents in Pokrov (Vladimir Oblast

Vladimir Oblast

Vladimir Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow...

), Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 in 1882. As an engineering student, he came under scrutiny for an interest in "some of the more liberal literature of the time."

In 1907, Loussac fled Czarist Russia for Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, living in Nome

Nome, Alaska

Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...

, Unalakleet

Unalakleet, Alaska

Unalakleet is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States, in the western part of the state. At the 2000 census the population was 747. Unalakleet is known in the region and around Alaska for its salmon and king crab harvests; the residents rely heavily on caribou, ptarmigan, oogruk , and...

, Iditarod

Iditarod, Alaska

Iditarod is an abandoned town in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska.- Geography :It is on a horseshoe lake that was once a bend in the Iditarod River, northwest of Flat, ultimately flowing into the Yukon river.- History :...

 and Juneau

Juneau, Alaska

The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

 before settling down in Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

 in 1916 to open a drugstore at Fourth Avenue and E Street. He sold out of the drugstore business in 1942, and turned his efforts to philanthropy.

In 1946, with the aid of Elmer E. Rasmuson

Elmer E. Rasmuson

Elmer E. Rasmuson was an Alaskan banker and philanthropist. He was Mayor of Anchorage from 1964 to 1967.-Origins and education:...

, Loussac created and endowed the Loussac Foundation, "dedicated to the promotion of recreational, cultural, scientific or educational activities in the Anchorage area." The next year, Loussac was elected to the first of two consecutive terms as Mayor of Anchorage. In 1949, at the age 66, he married Ada Harper. It was his first and only marriage.

In 1951, the Loussac Foundation underwrote the construction of a new, modern building to house the library at Fifth Avenue and F Street, replacing the older, cramped facilities at Fifth and E Street.

In 1952, Loussac served as an Alaska Territory

Alaska Territory

The Territory of Alaska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska...

 Delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

. Over time, he also served as President of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and the Pioneers of Alaska.

The new library, which became known as the Loussac Library, opened its doors in 1955, by which time, Loussac had retired to Seattle. The library building was also home to the Cook Inlet Historical Society Museum, which later became the Anchorage Museum of History and Art

Anchorage Museum of History and Art

The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center is a museum located in downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. Beginning as a public-private partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Alaska purchase, it opened in 1968 with an exhibition of 60 borrowed Alaska paintings and a collection...

.

On July 13, 1962, Loussac joined the municipally sponsored "Loussac Day" celebration to commemorate his 80th birthday. He died in Seattle on March 15, 1965. His ashes are interred in Angelus Memorial Park in Anchorage.

The first Loussac library was demolished in 1981 to make way for the William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center. In 1986, Anchorage opened a new four-story public library in midtown which was named the Z.J. Loussac Public Library.