Lessing Julius Rosenwald

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Lessing Julius Rosenwald

Lessing Julius Rosenwald shortened Lessing J. Rosenwald (born February 10, 1891 in Chicago ; † June 24, 1979 ) was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, and a patron.

Life

He was the son of Julius Rosenwald , a cloth maker. He became part-owner and was president of the mail order company Sears, Roebuck and Company from 1908 to 1923 and chairman from 1923 to 1932. From 1909 to 1911 he attended Cornell University , Ithaca, NY. He had started as a freight forwarder in 1911 and went through them all Stages of the company in Chicago. In 1913 he married Edith Goodkind.

In 1919 Chicago sales were nearly $ 239 million (approximately $ 3,010,000,000 in 2010), significantly higher than the previous year. Rosenwald agreed to the construction of a new Sears branch in Philadelphia and handed over the management of the branch to his son Lessing. He found a house in Jenkintown , Pennsylvania, which he had demolished and rebuilt.

In 1947 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Giant Bible from Mainz

In the mid-1920s, he built a professional relationship with the well-known antiquarian and rare book dealer Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach from Philadelphia. Rosenwald called Rosenbach "the godfather of my collection ... has been a mentor for 30 years ... and a great seller."

After the death of his father in 1932 Lessing became chairman of the board at Sears. But in 1939, at the age of 48, he retired entirely from Sears to devote himself entirely to his art collection. In 1928 he had bought an estate in Jenkintown which he called Alverthorpe Manor. Later, when he expanded his collection of books and prints, he added a new wing to the house, which was then adapted to his collection in humidity and room temperature.

There are more than 2,600 rare books in the Rosenwald Collection in the Library of Congress that are open to scholars and historians, according to Daniel DeSimone, the collection's curator. "The common thread of this priceless collection is the history of book illustration," DeSimone said in a recent interview.

The Rosenwald graphic collection counts 24,000 pieces, including important woodcuts and copperplate engravings by Dürer, Rembrandt, Whistler and Cassatt.

In 1943 he promised to donate his collections to the Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art . As early as 1952, he gave the Congress the Giant Mainz Bible .

He was also an avid chess enthusiast and donated money to support chess. He supported the US championship in the 1950s.

In 1969 Rosenwald donated his Alverthorpe house to Abington Township. He then lived with his wife in The Meadows , a smaller house on the property. But he kept the grand piano with the gallery in his hands for tours and exhibitions. The property now houses the Abington Art Center.

Political activities

Rosenwald was a supporter of the "America First Committee," which primarily advocated American neutrality in World War II before the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. His friend and successor at Sears-Roebuck was Robert Elkin Wood (1879-1969). From 1943 Rosenwald was president of the American Council for Judaism until 1955, after which he remained chairman of the board. During this time Rosenwald was active in rescue measures for the persecuted European Jews.

Notoriety

Episodes from his life are portrayed in the novel The Camel Club by David Baldacci .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sears factory in Philadelphia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.loladelphia.com  
  2. ↑ Old York Road Historical Society: Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge
  3. ↑ Member History: Lessing J. Rosenwald. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 22, 2018 .
  4. ^ The Rosenwald Trophy tournaments later officially became the US Championship events

literature

  • Article in The New York Times , June 26, 1979, C17, pp. 1-2.
  • Lessing J. Rosenwald: Recollections of a Collector . 250 copies printed at the Stinehour Press. Jenkintown, PA: Alverthorp Gallery, 1976

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rosenwald, Lessing Julius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rosenwald, Lessing J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American businessman, bibliophile, and patron
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 1979