| Samuel Bronfman | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 27 1889 Soroki, Bessarabia |
| Died | July 10 1971 (aged 82) Montreal |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Spouse | Saidye Rosner |
| Children | Aileen Mindel "Minda" Bronfman de Gunzburg Phyllis Lambert Edgar Miles Bronfman Charles Rosner Bronfman |
Samuel Bronfman, CC (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) founded Distillers Corporation Limited and a Canadian family dynasty the Bronfman family.
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Early life
Born in Soroki, Bessarabia (then in Imperial Russia, now in Moldova), Bronfman was one of eight children of Mindel and Ekiel Bronfman. His parents were refugees who immigrated to Wapella, Saskatchewan, but soon moved to Brandon, Manitoba. In 1903, the family bought a hotel business, and Samuel, noting that much of the profit was in alcoholic beverages, set up shop as a distributor, founding the Distillers Corporation in Montreal in 1924, specializing in cheap whiskey, and concurrently taking advantage of the U.S. prohibition on alcoholic beverages. The Bronfmans found great success bootlegging to the northern cities of the U.S. such as Boston and Chicago during the Prohibition era, while operating from the perimeters of Montreal, Quebec where alcohol production was still legal.
His empire
Bronfman's Distillers Corporation acquired Joseph E. Seagram & Sons of Waterloo, Ontario, from the heirs of Joseph Seagram in 1928. Bronfman eventually built an empire based on the appeal of brand names developed previously by Seagram - including Calvert, Dewars, and Seven Crown - to higher level consumers. His sales were boosted during the United States' abortive experiment with prohibition, and he was apparently able to do so while staying within the confines of both Canadian law where prohibition laws had been previously repealed and American law, while dealing with unsavory characters such as the Chicago Outfit of Al Capone. His company, Seagram Co. Ltd., became an international distributor of alcoholic beverages, and a diversified conglomerate which included an entertainment branch. The Seagram assets have since been acquired by other companies, notably General Electric, PepsiCo, Diageo, and Pernod Ricard.
Family life
On June 21, 1922, he married Saidye Rosner (1897 - July 7, 1995). They had four children:
- Aileen Mindel "Minda" Bronfman de Gunzburg (1925 - 1986)
- Phyllis Lambert (born January 24, 1927)
- Edgar Miles Bronfman (born June 20, 1929)
- Charles Rosner Bronfman (born June 27, 1931)
Philanthropy and honours
In 1952, he established the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, one of Canada's major private granting foundations. He was president of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1939 to 1962. Bronfman was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1967. In 1971, he helped to establish The Bronfman Building at McGill University, which houses the Desautels Faculty of Management. The building was named in his honour as a token of appreciation for his donation to the university. The Bronfman family continued its support of the University. In 1993 they created the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, and in 2002 donated the Seagram Building on Sherbrooke St. to McGill. [1]
References
- Christopher G. Curtis, "Bronfman Family", The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition (1999) - ISBN 0-7710-2099-6
- Michael R. Marrus, Mr. Sam: The Life and Times Samuel Bronfman (1991) - ISBN 0-87451-571-8
- Peter C. Newman, Bronfman Dynasty: The Rothschilds of the New World (1978; U.S. title: King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty) ISBN 0-7710-6758-5
