Franz Theodor Knauth
Franz Theodor Knauth (born April 25, 1803 in Leipzig ; † August 1874 there ) was a German merchant and banker.
Life
Knauth came from a Saxon merchant family. His father came to Leipzig from Naumburg / Saale .
As a young businessman, Knauth worked for the Leipzig silk goods store Dufour in France and Mexico. In 1839, together with Samuel Storrow from Boston, he took over Dufour's commission business . After Storrow's death in 1842, Knauth initially continued as a partner with his brother-in-law Esche. In 1852 Jacob Nachod , who had proven himself in Knauth's old company, and Friedrich Kühne took his place .
The bank Knauth, Nachod & Kühne was founded as a new company with offices in Leipzig and New York. Knauth recognized that the growing trade between the US and Europe offered good business prospects. The business focus shifted from importing goods to transatlantic banking services. In Saxony Knauth was consul a . a. for Colombia.
With his first wife Adelheid geb. Ash he had three children. In his second marriage, Knauth was married to Elizabeth Fanny Steyer from Leipzig (1828-1907) and had five more children with her. After Knauth's death, his sons Percival Knauth and Antonio Knauth joined the bank. His children moved from Leipzig to the USA and became leading members of German-American society in New York. One of Knauth's granddaughters was the philosopher Susanne K. Langer .
literature
- Theodore W. Knauth: A Banking Retrospect . [History of the Knauth family's banking house]. Huthsteiner Genealogy, Zurich 1959, p. 6 ( PDF 396.05kB , accessed on January 11, 2014, English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Knauth Nachod & Kühne was one of the leading providers of traveler checks, cf. Georg Obst, Das Bankgeschäft, Paderborn 2013, p. 61 (reprint from 1923)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Knauth, Franz Theodor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German merchant and banker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 25, 1803 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leipzig |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1874 |
| Place of death | Leipzig |