Edgar Miles Bronfman Sr.

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Edgar Bronfman (1990)
In 1988, Erich Honecker awarded Edgar Bronfman the Great Star of Friendship of Nations .

Edgar Miles Bronfman Sr. (Born June 20, 1929 in Montreal ; † December 21, 2013 in New York City ) was an American entrepreneur of Canadian origin. From 1979 to 2007 he was President of the World Jewish Congress .

Life

Edgar Bronfman was one of four children of Samuel and Saidye Bronfman . On January 10, 1953, he married Ann Loeb . The marriage, which was divorced in 1973, had five children, including Edgar jun. Since 1994 he was married for the fifth time.

After studying history at McGill University in Montreal , Bronfman joined the world's largest liquor manufacturer Seagram Company Ltd., which was run by his father . a. In 1957 he became head of the company in the USA; in 1959 he became a US citizen. After Cemp Investments , the company that managed the Bronfman family's investments , acquired 820,000 shares in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1966 , Bronfman briefly took over as chairman of the film production company in 1969. After his father's death, he succeeded him in 1971 as President, Treasurer and Director of Seagrams Ltd. Bronfman developed the Sabra liqueur , which is very popular in Israel .

In 2010, his personal wealth was $ 2.6 billion, according to Forbes .

Acting as President of the World Jewish Congress

Edgar M. Bronfman replaced his predecessor Philip Klutznick provisionally in 1979 as President of the World Jewish Congress after he was appointed Minister of Commerce in the Carter Administration . In 1981 Bronfman was officially confirmed as President of the World Jewish Congress. Together with Israel Singer , he built the WJC into one of the most important international Jewish organizations. In the 1980s, under Bronfman's leadership, the WJC endeavored to allow Jews to leave the Soviet Union .

The WJC became known in public when it initiated negotiations about compensation payments for the victims of the Holocaust or their heirs, mainly from Swiss banks, and through involvement in the so-called " Waldheim Affair ". In the course of this, the past of the Austrian presidential candidate Kurt Waldheim during the Second World War was examined and discussed very controversially. Bronfman said during an executive meeting of the WJC in Budapest that Waldheim was "an essential part of the Nazi killing machinery". The Commission of Historians later set up by the Austrian Federal Government came to the conclusion that Waldheim's “personal influence on the decision-making process of the top leadership (in the southeast) was on the one hand somewhat overestimated by his opponents and on the other too much diminished by his defenders” and “his general Insights [were] comprehensive: they related not only to the tactical, strategic and administrative arrangements, but in some cases also included actions and measures that contradicted martial law and the principles of humanity. ”Not least at the request of the WJC Waldheim was entered on April 27, 1987 in the " Watch List " of the US Department of Justice , which among other things resulted in an entry ban for Waldheim as a private person until his death.

In addition to his work as President of the WJC, Edgar Bronfman also supported other Jewish organizations. Politically, he promoted the Democrats .

Awards

On October 17, 1988 he was awarded the Great Star of Friendship of Nations of the GDR. Before the award, Bronfman had great remorse, which he later described as follows:

“We knew that Honecker was not being honest. At that time, Honecker was anxious to achieve rapprochement between the GDR and the USA. But first he wanted to get in touch. He didn't invite the US President, he invited us because he believed we would pave his way into the White House. Honecker believed that the Jews had power in the USA. "

On August 11, 1999, Bronfman received the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian honor in the United States. In 2001 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

literature

  • Peter C. Newman: King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty, Seagram's and the Bronfman empire . Atheneum 1979, ISBN 0-689-10963-6
  • Edgar M. Bronfman , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 36/2007 of September 8, 2007, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

Commons : Edgar Miles Bronfman senior  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Canadian-American businessman Edgar Bronfman dies at 84th AP article in CBC News , December 23, 2013, accessed July 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Biography: Edgar M. Bronfman. World Jewish Congress , archived from the original on December 24, 2013 ; accessed on July 25, 2018 (English).
  3. ↑ # 136 Edgar Bronfman Sr. In: 2010 Forbes 400 Net Worth. September 1, 2010, accessed July 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Title unknown. (pdf) (No longer available online.) Democracy Center, p. 21 , formerly in the original ; accessed on July 25, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.demokratiezentrum.org
  5. ↑ James L. Collins Jr. among others: The Waldheim Affair: A case study on dealing with the Nazi past in the late eighties: The report of the international commission of historians. University of Innsbruck, February 8, 1988, archived from the original on August 7, 2007 ; accessed on July 25, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Bronfman Sr., Edgar Miles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian-American entrepreneur; President of the World Jewish Congress (1981-2007)
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 2013
Place of death New York City