| Isaac Magnin | |
| Birth Name: | Isaac Moeijen |
| Birth Place: | Assen or Groningen, the Netherlands |
| Death Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, California, US |
| Nationality: | American |
| Spouse: | Mary Ann Cohen |
| Relatives: | Edgar Magnin (grandson) Cyril Magnin (grandson) Mae Brussell (great granddaughter) |
Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, carver and gilder. He was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California.
Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was born into a Jewish family in Assen or Groningen, the Netherlands in 1842.[1] [2] [3] [4] His father was from Russia and his mother, Dutch-born.[2] He moved to the United States with his parents when he was eight years old.[2] [3]
He worked as a businessman in Texas and New Mexico.[2] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he served in the Union Army.[2] He then worked as a pushcart peddler in New Orleans, Louisiana.[5] Next, he moved to London, where he established an arts goods store.[2] [5] A decade later, in 1876, he set sail for San Francisco via Cape Horn, with his wife and children.[2] [5] There, he worked as a frame carver and gilder for Solomon Gump, an art and antique dealer and owner of Gump's.[5] By 1880, he was listed in the census as the keeper of a fancy bazaar.[2] With his wife, he was also the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco.[2]
He was interested in socialism.[5]
He married Mary Ann Cohen on October 8, 1865, at the Great Synagogue of London.[1] [2] They had eight children: Samuel, Henrietta, Joseph, Emanuel John, Victor, Lucille, Flora, and Grover.[1] [6] They attended the Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.[2]
He was a freemason, having joined in London and gone up the ranks in California.[2] Magnin lived at 1478–1482 Page Street, San Francisco, and his two daughters lived in the attached unit, the building was designed by Newsom and Newsom.[7]
He died on January 27, 1907, in San Francisco, California.[1] He is buried at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California.