Adolf Dassler

Adolf "Adi" Dassler (November 3, 1900 in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany - September 6, 1978 in Herzogenaurach) was the founder of the German sportswear company adidas.

Trained as a baker, Adi Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen after his return from World War I. His father, Christoph, who worked in a shoe-factory, and the brothers Zehlein, who produced the handmade spikes for track shoes in their blacksmith's shop, supported Dassler in starting his own business. In 1924, his older brother Rudolf Dassler joined and the business, which became the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory).

At the 1928 Olympics, Dassler equipped several athletes, laying the foundation for the international expansion of the company. During the 1936 Summer Olympics on Berlin, Dassler equipped quadruple gold medal winner Jesse Owens of the U.S. with his shoes.

With the rise of Hitler in the 1930s, both Dassler brothers joined the Nazi Party, with Rudolf reputed as being the more ardent National Socialist. Rudolf was drafted, and later captured, while Adi stayed behind to produce boots for the Wehrmacht.. The war exacerbated the differences between the brothers and their wives. Rudolf, upon his capture by the Allies, was suspected of being part of the SS, which he allegedly attributed to Adi.

By 1948, the rift between the brothers widened. Rudolf left the company to found Puma on the other side of town (across the Aurach River), and Adi Dassler renamed the company adidas, deliberately using all lower case letters.

In 1973, Adi's son Horst Dassler founded Arena, a producer of swimming equipment. After Adolf Dassler's death in 1978, Horst and his wife Käthe took over the management. Horst died nine years later, in 1987.

adidas was transformed into a private limited company in 1989, but remained family property until its IPO in 1995.

External links

• Biographie:Adidas