Benjamin Guggenheim
Benjamin Guggenheim ( born October 26, 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic during the sinking of the Titanic ) was an American businessman. Benjamin Guggenheim was one of the richest men in the United States and is still one of the most famous victims of the Titanic disaster. His person was the subject of many films and non-fiction.
Life
Guggenheim was the sixth of eleven children of Meyer Guggenheim (1828-1905) and his wife Barbara Myers ( 1834-1900 ). The Jewish family originally came from Switzerland.
Benjamin Guggenheim married on October 24, 1894 Florette Seligman ( 1870-1937 ), the daughter of James Seligman, the president of a New York bank. They had three daughters: Benita Rosalind Guggenheim (* December 10, 1895; † July 21, 1927 ), Marguerite " Peggy " Guggenheim (* August 28, 1898; † 23 December 1979) and Barbara Hazel Guggenheim ( 1903-1995 ).
At the age of 20 he was appointed by his father to Leadville, Colorado, sent there to represent the interests of the family business in the mining sector. He recognized the great potential and on his advice towards the family went into the melting shop. The first smelter was built in Pueblo. Due to their success further built in Aguascalientes, Monterey and Perth Amboy, the family focused henceforth on the melting shop. Beginning of the 20th century dominated the Guggenheim much of the world's copper production. 1901 Benjamin Guggenheim went to Europe and came back in 1903. He built a factory in Milwaukee mining equipment. In 1906 he became CEO of the International Steam Pump Company, where the family held large shareholdings. In 1909 he became president of the company. The company operating seven plants in the U.S. and one in England, where they employed approximately 10,000 employees. His fortune was at that time estimated at 380 million U.S. $.
Sinking of the Titanic
In April 1912, he was with his young French lover Léontine Aubart ( 1887-1964 ) and two employees of passengers of the Titanic. He lived in the luxury cabin B -82 ( Ticket-Nr. 17593 ). When he had assigned his lover a place in a lifeboat and helped other passengers, he put together with his butler his best evening wear, and said to one member of the crew: "We are dressed appropriately and ready to go down like gentlemen ." Through this traditional statement increased his name recognition, because it was very often, even in some movies, quotes.
Benjamin Guggenheim did not survive the sinking of the Titanic, the body was never found. His widow Florette died on 15 November 1937 at the age of 67 at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Benjamin Guggenheim in film and literature
In the later film adaptations of the ship's destruction was Benjamin Guggenheim of Camillo Guercio ( sinking of the Titanic, 1953), Harold Goldblatt ( The last night of the Titanic, 1958 ), John Moffatt (SOS Titanic, 1979) and Michael Ensign ( Titanic, 1997) shown.
Furthermore, the person Benjamin Guggenheim is treated in the following non-fiction books:
- John P. Eaton, Charles A. Hass, Titanic - Triumph and Tragedy, Heyne, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-45-312890-7
- Walter Lord, The Titanic disaster, Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-45-305909-3
- Donald Lynch, Ken Marschall, Titanic - Queen of the Seas, Heyne, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-45-305930-1