Franz Dominic Grassi

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Relief on the grave in the old Johannisfriedhof

Franz Dominic Grassi (born May 11, 1801 in Leipzig ; † November 14, 1880 ibid) was a Leipzig merchant of Italian descent who, thanks to his extensive legacy, made it possible for the city to erect numerous architectural monuments .

Life

Tomb of Franz Dominic Grassi

Grassi came from a merchant family who immigrated to Leipzig from central Italy . After his commercial training and numerous trips abroad, he founded his own trading company for Russian products, indigo and tropical fruits in Leipzig . After the death of his father in 1847 he mainly ran speculative and bills of exchange business, and after the death of his mother in 1854 he withdrew completely from active business life.

Grassi remained a bachelor throughout his life and was considered the Leipzig original. He was a theater and horse lover and supported Leipzig citizens who had gotten into emergency situations. In the vernacular of Leipzig, Grassi was also called “ The Wood Nutscher ” because he used to chew on a toothpick .

Grassi is buried in the old Johannisfriedhof .

legacy

Although Grassi also considered distant relatives, godchildren and servants in his will, he left the city with a fortune of 2.327 million marks , which today corresponds to over 20 million euros (converted earlier about 40 million German marks). Numerous building projects, parks and monuments were supported by this fortune, some of which were destroyed in the Second World War ( Neues Gewandhaus , Museum on Augustusplatz ). Of the objects still preserved today, the Grassimuseum on Johannisplatz , named after him , the " Old Grassimuseum " (today Leipzig City Library) and the Mendebrunnen (grant to the foundation assets of Marianne Pauline Mende († 1881), widow of the merchant Ferdinand Wilhelm Mende) should be mentioned .

In 2002, the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany and the Chemnitz University of Technology founded the Franz Dominic Grassi Prize, endowed with 2,000 euros, for achievements to promote German-Italian trade and economic relations.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Purchasing power as a measure of the value of money. (No longer available online.) Rolf-Fredrik Matthaei, archived from the original on January 2, 2015 ; Retrieved June 23, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / fredriks.de