Felix M. Warburg Explained

Birth Name:	Felix Moritz Warburg
Birth Date:	14 January 1871
Birth Place:	Hamburg, Germany
Death Place:	New York City, United States
Occupation:	Banker
Employer:	M. M. Warburg
Nationality:	American
Children:	5
Signature:	Signature of Felix Moritz Warburg (1871–1937).png

Felix Moritz Warburg (January 14, 1871October 20, 1937) was a German-born American banker. He was a member of the Warburg banking family of Hamburg, Germany.

Early life

Warburg was born in Hamburg, in a Jewish family in Germany, on January 14, 1871.^[1] He was a grandson of Moses Marcus Warburg, one of the founders of the bank M. M. Warburg (in 1798), and son of Moritz and Charlotte Esther Oppenheim Warburg. Felix's first job at age 16 was in Hamburg, Germany, with N. M. Oppenheim & Co. Felix Warburg was a partner in Kuhn, Loeb & Co.^[2]

Career

Warburg was a presidential elector in the 1908 U.S. presidential election.^[3]

Warburg was an important leader of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, established to help the Jews in Europe in the period leading up to, and especially during, the Great Depression. Warburg actively raised funds in the United States on behalf of European Jews who faced hunger following World War I. As early as 1919, he was quoted in The New York Times discussing the dire situation of Jewish war sufferers.^[4]

Warburg served as the founder and first president of the American Friends of the Hebrew University, which supports the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Mandate Palestine, in 1925.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Warburg and the Joint Distribution Committee were also instrumental in the 1930s after the global Great Depression following the crash of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929.^{[8] [9]} More interested in his charitable work than banking, after Hitler seized power, Warburg gave money to help aid Jews fleeing Germany. Before he died, Warburg gave $10,000,000 to Jewish causes around the world.^[10]

John L. Spivak claimed General Smedley Butler had named Warburg before Congress as part of the Business Plot.^{[11] [12]}

Personal life

See main article: Warburg family. He married Frieda Schiff (1876–1958), daughter of Jacob Henry Schiff (1847–1920) and Therese Loeb Schiff, on March 19, 1895, in New York.^[13] They had four sons and one daughter:

• Frederick Marcus Warburg (1897–1973), married to Wilma L. Shannon^[14]
• Gerald Felix Warburg (c. 1902–1971), married first to Marion Bab and then to Natica Nast, the daughter of Condé Montrose Nast^[15]
• Paul Felix Warburg^[16]
• Edward Mortimer Morris Warburg (1908–1992), married to Mary Warburg
• Carola Warburg Rothschild (1896–1987), married to Walter N. Rothschild, son of Simon F. Rothschild, chairman of the board of Abraham & Straus, and founder of the Federated Department Stores^[17] Her daughter, Carol Warburg Rothschild, is the mother of Peter A. Bradford and grandmother of Arthur Bradford.

All of their children were active in community service.^[18] In 1927 Warburg purchased and donated four Stradivari instruments for the members of the newly formed Musical Art Quartet (from the Institute of Musical Art, now Juilliard): Sascha Jacobsen, Bernard Ocko, Louis Kaufman, and Marie Roemaet-Rosanov.^[19]

He died on October 20, 1937, in New York City.^{[20] [21]} He was buried in Salem Fields Cemetery in Brooklyn.^[22]

Legacy

As a result of his philanthropic activities, a new Jewish village established in Mandate Palestine in 1939, Kfar Warburg, was named after him. He was a trustee of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.^{[23] [24]}

The Felix M. Warburg House, in New York's Upper East side was donated by his widow and today houses the Jewish Museum.^[25]

Further reading

• Yehuda Bauer (1974) My Brother's Keeper. A History of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 1929–1939 Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia,

External links

• M.M. Warburg & Co.
  • • Felix M. Warburg papers at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

Notes and References

1. 469. Felix M. Warburg . Distinguished Jews of America: A Collection of Biographical Sketchs of Jew Who Have Made Their Mark in Business, the Professions, Politics, Science, Etc.Volume 1. September 12, 1932. Pfeffer. Jacob.
2. News: Felix Warburg. September 15, 2019. . 22 . October 21, 1937 . subscription.
3. News: January 12, 1909. New York Electors Meet. LXXVI. 5. The Sun. 134. New York, N.Y.. Chronicling America.
4. News: Tells Sad Plight of Jews . . 7 . November 12, 1919 . February 17, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
5. Web site: A Visual History of AFHU. American Friends of the Hebrew University. August 29, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160630052926/https://www.afhu.org/a-visual-history-of-afhu/#.V8QVnJMrJAY. June 30, 2016.
6. News: Felix Warburg Reaches Jerusalem.. April 15, 2017. . 4 . January 28, 1927 . subscription.
7. News: Warburg Pledges $1,000,000 to Fund; Will Be Used to Establish Jews on Agricultural Colonies in Russia. Total Now is $6,500,000; Subscription, Conditional on Raising of $10,000,000, Expected to Be Returned Eventually.. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. April 25, 1928 . 16 . subscription.
8. News: Felix Warburg Arrives in London.. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. May 26, 1929 . 21 . subscription.
9. News: MRS. F. M. WARBURG GETS JEWISH POST; She Succeeds Late Husband as Honorary Chairman of Distribution Committee. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. December 21, 1937 . 48 . subscription.
10. Business & Finance: Death of Warburg . . November 1, 1937 . February 17, 2022.
11. Archer, p. x (Foreword)
12. Schmidt, p. 229
13. News: Warburg Estate Put at 9 Million; $2,970,000 in Gifts Left to Charitable Institutions by Widow of Banker. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. September 23, 1958 . 30 . subscription.
14. News: Whitman . Alden . Frederick M. Warburg, 75, Dies; Investment Banker, Sportsman . The New York Times. July 11, 1973. 44 . February 17, 2022.
15. News: Gerald F. Warburg, 69, Is Dead; Cellist and a Patron of the Arts . The New York Times. February 15, 1971 . 26 . February 17, 2022.
16. News: Paul Felix Warburg Dead; Was 61; Funeral Services Tomorrow . Jewish Telegraph Agency. October 11, 1965 . February 17, 2022.
17. News: Carola W. Rothschild, Ex-Girl Scout Official . The New York Times. September 1, 1987 . B6 . February 17, 2022.
18. http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/warburg-frieda-schiff "Frieda Schiff"
19. January 10, 1927 . Music: From Cremona . en-US . Time . January 11, 2023 . 0040-781X.
20. News: F. M. Warburg Dies At 66 In Home Here. Senior Partner in Kuhn, Loeb Is Victim of Heart Attack. Ill Only Three Days . Felix M. Warburg, financier, and champion of many philanthropic causes, died yesterday of a heart attack at the age of 66. He was stricken at 4 A. M. last Monday in his home at 1,109 Fifth Avenue, but his illness at first was not regarded as serious. . . 1 . October 21, 1937 . February 23, 2015 . subscription.
21. News: Felix Warburg, Banker, Dies . . New York . AP . 2 . October 20, 1937 . February 17, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
22. News: Felix Warburg. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. October 21, 1937 . 22 . subscription.
23. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14778-warburg Warburg
24. News: Raise $500,000 for Nurses.; Mr. and Mrs. Felix M. Warburg Give $100,000 to Jewish Charity. . February 17, 2022 . . March 21, 1920 . 14 . Newspapers.com.
25. News: Felix M. Warburg Honored. April 15, 2017. The New York Times. January 14, 1950 . 14 . subscription.