Meyer Guggenheim

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Meyer Guggenheim

Meyer Guggenheim (born February 1, 1828 in Lengnau (AG) , Switzerland ; died March 15, 1905 in Lake Worth , Florida ) was a Swiss-American industrialist and philanthropist . He was the head of the American line of the Guggenheim family .

biography

Guggenheim was born in Lengnau in the canton of Aargau , which, along with neighboring Endingen, was the only place in Switzerland where Jews were allowed to settle in Switzerland in the 18th and 19th centuries. After the death of his wife, father Simon Guggenheim wanted to marry Rachel Meyer-Weil, who was also widowed. The marriage was refused, however, because it was doubted that the income would be sufficient for the family - Simon had five children (including Meyer as the only son), Rachel seven. They decided to emigrate to escape the restrictive laws for Jews. In 1847 they moved to the USA via Hamburg and settled in Philadelphia .

Father Simon and son Meyer initially earned their livelihood as peddlers, then made cleaning products and finally switched to trading in coffee and spices. From 1871 Guggenheim imported St. Gallen embroidery from Switzerland, and ten years later he passed the business on to four of his sons. In 1881, a debtor he transferred the mineral rights in a mine in Leadville ( Colorado ). The work initially turned out to be difficult and not very profitable, but the miners unexpectedly came across large lead and silver deposits. In 1889 Guggenheim had the first silver smelting furnace built in Pueblo and in the same year founded the Philadelphia Smelting and Refining Company .

The Guggenheims also imported silver from Mexico and soon had a dominant position in the market. They acquired more copper, silver and lead mines and built a production chain that stretched from ore mining to the finished product. In 1899, their competitors formed the American Smelting and Refining Company , a trust of international importance, to curb the influence of the Guggenheims. However, they acquired large shares in the trust the following year and soon gained control. At times, the Guggenheims controlled 80% of the world's production of copper, silver and lead.

Meyer Guggenheim retired from business in 1891 and moved to Florida. He left the mining activities to his sons and from then on devoted himself to charitable causes.

progeny

Meyer Guggenheim married Barbara Myers in 1852, with whom he had eight sons and two daughters. They are:

literature

  • Biographical Lexicon of the Canton of Aargau 1803–1957 . In: Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau (Ed.): Argovia . tape 68/69 . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1958, p. 274-275 .

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personal data
SURNAME Guggenheim, Meyer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss-American industrialist and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Lengnau AG , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 1905
Place of death Lake Worth , Florida