Ferdinand Moritz Delmar

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Baron Ferdinand Moritz Delmar , b. Salomon Moses Levy (born March 21, 1781 in Charlottenburg ; † November 27, 1858 in Paris ) was a wealthy Prussian banker and one of the great Prussian court factors of the 19th century. He also owned coffee and tea plantations in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), including the eponymous Delmar estate .

Live and act

Salomon Moses Levy was born in Charlottenburg into a Jewish family who came from Posen and received the rights of Christian merchants from Frederick the Great in 1785 . Delmar's father was Moses Salomon Levy, called "Chalfan", also a banker and grain dealer, his mother Belle the daughter of the court banker Ruben Hesse Goldschmidt in Kassel. His aunt Sara Levy , patroness and musician, was known in Berlin society for her salon, which frequented well-known greats of her time. As a banker, Delmar was involved in the Prussian war contribution after the Peace of Tilsitand in bonds for Berlin, the Kur- and Neumark and for the French government. In 1812 he granted the Prussian state a large loan. In 1809 he inherited the Delmar & Co. company, took the name Delmar (which means from the sea ) together with his brothers and became a Christian. In the same year he was also a city councilor in Berlin. In Berlin society he was one of the sympathizers of the French. In 1810, on the intervention of the French envoy, he was given the title of Baron von Delmar . After the Wars of Liberation , he moved to Paris. There he married Emily Rumbold (1790–1861), the daughter of Sir George Rumbold, in 1830 and founded an educational institute for impoverished nobles, for which he donated 1½ million francs from his vast fortune.

After the death of Emily's brother William, the couple adopted his daughter Emily Victorine Elizabeth Rumbold in 1836 .

Delmar went bankrupt in 1825 and the Ceylon real estate was mortgaged to Barings Bank . After the adoptive parents died, Emily (the adopted daughter) inherited the property, which was still mortgaged . The facts are well documented through a longstanding legal battle.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinrich Schnee: Delmar, Ferdinand Moritz Freiherr von . In: New German Biography . tape 3 , 1957, pp. 588-589 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Berard Burke: A Genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire . 31st edition. Harrison, London 1879, p. 965 ( online at Archive.org ).
  3. ^ Gregory Allan: Ceylon Coffee, the Comtesse and the Consignee . In: The Journal of Legal History . No. 36 , 2015, p. 43 , doi : 10.1080 / 01440365.2015.1007902 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Delmar, Ferdinand Moritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Delmar, Ferdinand; Delmar, Ferdinand Moritz Freiherr von; Levy, Salomon Moses (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian banker and court factor
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1781
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlottenburg
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1858
Place of death Paris