Leon grains
Leon Körner , in the North American spelling Koerner (* May 24, 1892 in Nový Hrozenkov , Moravia , † September 25, 1972 in Vancouver , Canada ), was a German-born entrepreneur who worked as a consul in Czechoslovakia until 1938 and as a timber entrepreneur from 1939 worked in Canada.
Life
The son of German-Slavic parents initially embarked on a military career in Austria-Hungary and took part in the First World War. In 1920 he and his three brothers took over his father's wood company in Prague . His company, which at times employed 15,000 people in Central Europe, contributed to the economic upswing in the newly formed Czechoslovakia through numerous crisis-proof jobs in the wood processing industry. At the same time he worked as consul in the Czechoslovak capital. As such, he had established close contacts with Dresdner Bank , through which he acted in the German Reich as an intermediary in the debt of companies and industrialists after the global economic crisis.
When the occupation of the Sudetenland by the Munich Agreement became apparent in September 1938 , he left Czechoslovakia due to his Jewish descent and fled to England . His company in Prague was expropriated and several of his relatives who had stayed behind died in German concentration camps .
In 1939 Körner went to Vancouver , where he very successfully built up a new timber trade, the Alaska Pine Company . Together with his wife, he founded the Leon and Thea Körner Foundation in 1955 with endowment capital of one million dollars. Other foundations followed for charitable and scientific purposes.
Leon Körner received two honorary doctorates and in 1983 he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame .
Leon's marriage to the Viennese theater and film actress Thea Rosenquist remained childless.
literature
- Encyclopedia Canadiana. : volume 6, Grolier of Canada, Toronto [u. a.], 1970, p. 19.
- Geoffrey Wilson Taylor: Timber: History of the Forest Industry in BC, JJ Douglas, Vancouver BC, 1975, p. 125.
- Paul Helmer: Growing with Canada: the emigré tradition in Canadian music, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal [Que.], 2009, p. 269.
Web links
- Koernerfoundation CV with photos
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Korner, Leon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Koerner, Leon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 24, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nový Hrozenkov , Moravia |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 25, 1972 |
| Place of death | Vancouver , Canada |