Bronfman family

The Bronfman family is a Canadian family, known for its extensive business holdings.[1] It owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), the most influential Canadian Jew of the mid-20th century,[2] who made a fortune in the alcoholic distilled beverage business during American prohibition, including the sale of liquor through organized crime, through founding the Seagram Company, and who later became president of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1939–62).[1][3]

The family is of Russian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish ancestry; the patriarch, Yechiel (Ekiel) Bronfman, was originally a tobacco farmer from Bessarabia.[4] According to The New York Times staff reporter Nathaniel Popper, the Bronfman family is "perhaps the single largest force in the Jewish charitable world".[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Curtis, Christopher G. "Bronfman Family". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  2. ^ "Museum of Jewish Montreal". imjm.ca. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  3. ^ The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Seagram Company Ltd.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 December 2013. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ Weiss, Steven I. (March 11, 2014). "For Centuries, Jews Ruled Poland's Liquor Trade. Why Was That Legacy Forgotten?". Tablet. Retrieved April 10, 2016. Even the Bronfmans, the world's most famous liquor magnates, couldn't tie their successes in booze to the legacy of Polish Jewry's tavern-keeping: They were originally tobacco farmers from Bessarabia.
  5. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (April 15, 2005). "Keeping Alive a Philanthropic Family Tradition". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  6. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (22 December 2013). "Edgar M. Bronfman, Who Brought Elegance and Expansion to Seagram, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 December 2013.