Benno Loewy

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Benno Loewy (born June 14, 1854 in Berlin , † August 19, 1919 in New York City ) was a German-American lawyer , Freemason and collector.

Life

Benno Loewy came to the USA with his parents when he was five. He grew up in Manhattan and attended No. 19 at the intersection of First Avenue and 14th Street. He studied at City College of New York and law at Columbia University's Law School .

After his admission to the New York bar, he established a large and well-known practice specializing in appeal cases. On February 27, 1883 he married Isabella, b. Charcoal burner.

He was a member of numerous clubs, B'nai B'rith and almost all Jewish charities in New York. From 1893 he was a Freemason at National Lodge No. 209 and 1905 her master from the chair . He was the holder of all higher degrees in the Scottish Rite up to 33 ° honorary and represented the Great Lodge of Hamburg in New York.

He died as a result of an accident; a truck had run over him near his home at 22 West 88th Street. His private memorial service was held at his home and was presided over by Rabbi Joseph Silverman of Temple Emanu El, New York City . He was buried in Salem Fields Cemetery in Brooklyn .

Collections

Loewy assembled one of the largest private law and Masonic libraries in the United States, comprising approximately 53,000 volumes. There was also a special collection with works by and about William Shakespeare . He also owned an extensive collection of postage stamps and coins, as well as Masonic badges and insignia. In a photo collection, he had collected 56 volumes of photos of actors and artists.

estate

In his will, Loewy had bequeathed the library to Cornell University in Ithaca , along with an endowment to support it. His widow challenged the will because New York state law would not allow a testator to bequeath more than 50% of his inheritance to a charitable institution, provided there was a surviving widow, and there was a lawsuit before the Supreme Court of New York. In 1923 the court ruled the widow and declared the will to be invalid. The university and the widow then agreed that the library should go to Cornell University, and in February 1924 it was taken to Cornell in three freight cars. In the summer of 1924, five years after Loewy's death, the estate dispute was over. The books were provided with a special bookplate . Along with the books, the collection of Masonic coins and badges and the photo collection came to Ithaca.

The stamp collection had been auctioned for US $ 126,000 in 1920; an auction of paintings and drawings from the estate took place on 28/29. April 1924 by the Anderson Galleries in New York.

Fonts

  • (anonymous) The Truth about love; a proposed sexual morality based upon the doctrine of evolution, and recent discoveries in medical science. New York: Wesley 1872

literature

  • Otto Spengler (ed.): The German element of the city of New York. New York 1913, p. 178
  • Fifty-nine paintings from the estate of the late Benno Loewy, New York City, and twenty-four paintings ... and other collections: several American paintings of exceptional historical interest. New York 1924 digitized

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Benno Loewy dies , obituary in the New York Times, August 20, 1919
  2. ^ Private Funeral for Benno Loewy , New York Times, August 22, 1919
  3. ↑ Unger v. Loewy, 236 NY 73 | Casetext. Retrieved July 2, 2019 .
  4. ↑ CORNELL SETTLES LOEWY WILL CASE; University Accepts Rare Manuscripts and Law Library, Valued at $ 81,357. , New York Times July 20, 1924
personal data
SURNAME Loewy, Benno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American lawyer, freemason and collector
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 1919
Place of death New York City