Herbert Felix

Herbert Felix (born July 9, 1908 in Znojmo , Moravia , Austria-Hungary ; † May 5, 1973 in Torekov , Sweden ) was the founder of AB Felix in Sweden and Felix Austria in Austria.

Life

Herbert Felix started working in the family business Löw & Felix in Znojmo . He was supposed to succeed his father as company manager, but had to flee to Sweden when the National Socialists occupied Bohemia and Moravia from 1938, and parts of Czechoslovakia since 1918 .

Herbert Felix married a Swede. His mother, father and brother were murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp .

In Sweden, Felix started a successful collaboration with P. Håkansson in Eslöv. The Felix brand, introduced in 1941, became a real trademark for pickles in Sweden, but soon other products too.

Herbert Felix went to Scotland in 1943 to join a Czechoslovak exile force as an officer. As such, he took part in the Allied landing in Normandy in 1944 . In 1945 he returned to Eslöv. The company was renamed AB Felix in 1954 (AB = Aktiebolaget = Aktiengesellschaft). In 1958 Felix was appointed Austrian Honorary Consul in Malmö .

Bruno Kreisky , also in exile in Sweden during the war and active in Austrian foreign policy after the war, encouraged his cousin Herbert Felix to invest in Austria: Felix Austria was founded in Mattersburg in Burgenland in 1959 . From 1961 to 1964 Herbert Felix sold his shares in AB Felix, which had got into financial difficulties. From 1965 to 1969 he worked in Rome for the FAO , the UN organization for food and agriculture.

In April 2007 Herbert Felix was given honorary citizenship in memoriam of his now Czech hometown of Znojmo .

literature

personal data
SURNAME	Felix, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian-Swedish entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH	July 9, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH	Znojmo
DATE OF DEATH	May 5th 1973
Place of death	Torekov , Sweden