Edgar Bronfman Sr.
Edgar Bronfman, Sr. | |
|---|---|
 Edgar Bronfman in 1989 | |
| Born | Edgar Miles Bronfman June 20, 1929 |
| Nationality | American[1], [2] |
| Known for | Alma mater: Williams College |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Loeb (1953-1973) Lady Carolyn Townshend (1973-1974) Rita "Georgiana" Webb (dates unknown) Jan Aronson (1994-) |
| Children | Samuel Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Matthew Holly Adam Sara Bronfman Clare Bronfman |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Bronfman Saidye Rosner Bronfman |
| Relatives | Minda de Gunzberg (sister) Phyllis (sister) Charles |
 |
Edgar Miles Bronfman (born June 20, 1929) is an Canadian-American[4][5] businessman. He is a member of the Bronfman family.
Biography
Bronfman was born in Montreal into the Jewish-Canadian Bronfman family, the son of Samuel Bronfman and Saidye Rosner Bronfman. His father was the founder of Distillers Corporation Limited which purchased in 1928, the largest distiller in the world, Seagram Company Ltd. He had three siblings: the late Minda de Gunzburg, the architecture maven Phyllis Lambert, and Charles Bronfman.
Career
After graduating from Williams College] with a B.A. degree in 1950 he joined the family business. In 1957 he took over as head of Seagram's American subsidiary. He increased the range of products sold by the company, improved distribution, and expanded the number of countries in which Seagram's products were sold. In 1966 Cemp Investments, which managed the family's investments, bought 820,000 shares of MGM and in 1969 Bronfman took over the chairmanship of MGM, albeit briefly.
Following his father's death in 1971, Bronfman took over as president, treasurer, and director of Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd. His son Edgar Jr. succeeded him as chief executive officer of the company in 1994.
In 1981, Edgar M. Bronfman was elected president of the World Jewish Congress, the federation of Jewish communities outside of Israel. Together with his deputy Israel Singer, Bronfman has led the World Jewish Congress in becoming the pre-eminent international Jewish organization. Through the campaigns to free Soviet Jewry, the exposure of the Nazi past of Austrian president Kurt Waldheim, and the campaign to compensate victims of the Holocaust and their heirs, notably in the case of the Swiss banks, Bronfman became well-known internationally during the 1980s and 1990s.
Bronfman stepped down from that post on May 7, 2007, amidst scandals and turmoil about Israel Singer.[6][7][8]
According to Joel Bainerman, in 1991 he was appointed to the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations to conduct official contacts between the Vatican and the State of Israel.[9] Edgar Bronfman Sr., the president of the World Jewish Congress, was accused of “perfidy” when he wrote a letter to President Bush in mid‐2003 urging Bush to pressure Israel to curb construction of its controversial “security fence.”[10]
Personal life
Bronfman has been married five times (twice to his third wife):
- In 1953, he married the Jewish-American banking heiress Ann Loeb (1932-2011), the daughter of John Langeloth Loeb Sr. (a Wall Street investment banker whose company was a predecessor of Shearson Lehman/American Express) and Frances Lehman (a scion of the Lehman Brothers banking firm). They divorced in 1973. They had five children:[11]
- Samuel Bronfman - On Aug. 9, 1975, Samuel (who was 21 at the time) was abducted from a family estate in suburban New York. He was held for more than a week before his father paid a $2.3 million ransom. He was later rescued by the FBI and New York City police from a Brooklyn apartment where he was found with his hands bound and his eyes and mouth covered with adhesive tape. The captors, a former limousine operator and a former fireman, were acquitted of kidnapping but convicted of extortion charges and spent several years in prison. The ransom money was recovered.[12]
- Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
- Matthew Bronfman
- Holly Bronfman Lev
- Adam Bronfman - Managing Director of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation.
- In 1973, soon after his divorce from Loeb, he married Lady Carolyn Townshend, the daughter of the 7th Marquess Townshend. The marriage was annulled in 1974.
- In 1975, he married his third wife, Rita "Georgiana" Webb. They divorced in 1983 but were later remarried and again divorced. He had two children with Webb:[13][14]
- In 1994 he married the artist Jan Aronson.
Philanthropy
Edgar M. Bronfman is also a philanthropist who has given large amounts of money to Jewish causes, including Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, which he is credited with helping revive together with Hillel President Richard Joel in the 1990s. Indeed, the Hillel at New York University is called The Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, known by students just as "Bronfman". Edgar Bronfman established the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, an elite leadership program for Jewish youth, and is the founder of the website MyJewishLearning.com.[15]
His mother has a concert hall named after her in Montreal called the Saidye Bronfman Centre and a building at McGill University is named after his father.
Edgar M. Bronfman is also the President of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation whose work is informed by these four principles: "Jewish renaissance is grounded in Jewish learning, Jewish youth shape the future of the Jewish people, vibrant Jewish communities are open and inclusive, and that all Jews are a single family."[16]
Awards
Bronfman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Bill Clinton in August 1999 and the Star of People's Friendship by East German leader Erich Honecker in October 1988.
In 2000, he received the Leo Baeck Medal for his humanitarian work promoting tolerance and social justice.
Books
- Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance, Edgar M. Bronfman with Beth Zasloff, St. Martin’s Press, 2008.[5][17]
- The Third Act: Reinventing Yourself After Retirement, Edgar M. Bronfman with Catherine Whitney, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2002.[6][18]
- Good Spirits, Edgar M. Bronfman, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998.[7][19]
- The Making of a Jew, Edgar M. Bronfman, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996.[8][20]
Articles
Bronfman is a guest blogger for the Huffington Post and a regular contributor to The Washington Post.[21], [22]
External Links
Interview with Jacques Berlinerblau for Faith Complex Series
Notes
- ^ http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/biography/55
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/profile/edgar-bronfman/
- ^ Edgar Bronfman Sr. profile on Forbes Forbes.com. Retrieved April 2011.
- ^ http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/biography/55
- ^ http://www.forbes.com/profile/edgar-bronfman/
- ^ Amiram Barkat. Members of the Tribe. The end of a beautiful friendship. Haaretz. March 25, 2007. Available: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/841279.html
- ^ Stephanie Strom. President of Jewish Congress Resigns After 3 Years' Turmoil. New York Times. May 8, 2007, Section A, Page 16, Column 4, 643 words
- ^ Nathaniel Popper. Bronfman Era Ends at World Jewish Congress. Jewish Daily Forward. May 11, 2007, Available: http://www.forward.com/articles/bronfman-era-ends-at-world-jewish-congress/
- ^ The Vatican Agenda
- ^ article from The Telegraph
- ^ New York Times: Paid Notice: Deaths BRONFMAN, ANN L. April 10, 2011
- ^ North Jersey.com: Obituary Ann Loeb Bronfman
- ^ Cityfile NY Profile
- ^ Vanity Fair: "The Heiresses and the Cult" November 2010
- ^ [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/
- ^ "The Samuel Bronfman Foundation - Our Mission- Mission". The Samuel Bronfman Foundation. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ [1], Jewish Book Council Review.
- ^ [2], Publisher's Weekly Review.
- ^ [3], NYTimes Review.
- ^ [4], Jewish Post Review.
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edgar-m-bronfman
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/search.html?st=edgar+m.+bronfman&fn=bylinenavigator&sfn=%5E%22Edgar+M.+Bronfman%22%24&sa=af&cp=1&hl=true&sb=-1&sd=12%2F31%2F2004&ed=02%2F13%2F2012&blt=&bln=&dpp=10&df=All+Since+2005