Mitchell Wolfson Jr.

Mitchell Wolfson Jr.
Mitchell Wolfson Jr.
Born	September 30, 1939 (age 84)
Nationality	American
Known for	founder of the Wolfsonian Museum
Parent	Mitchell Wolfson Sr.
Family	Louis Wolfson II (brother)

Mitchell "Micky" Wolfson Jr. (born September 30, 1939) is an American businessman, collector, and the founder of the

Miami Beach, Florida, and Genoa–Nervi, Italy

.

Early life and education

He was born in

Miami-Dade County

from 1963–1973.

Wolfson received an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a master's degree in International relations from the Paul N. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Activities

In 1986 Wolfson established The Wolfsonian Foundation, a research center and museum in Miami Beach, and began publishing The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Art, a journal fostering scholarship in late 19th- and early 20th-century design. In the same year he acquired the Mackenzie Castle in Genoa to house his collection, although the restoration works he commissioned remained unfinished and the manor was later sold to an auction house.

Wolfson co-authored Miami Beach: Blueprint of an Eden with artist Michele Oka Doner. Published in 2005, the book is a personal portrayal of Miami Beach from the 1920s through the 1960s.^[3]

He is president of The Wolfson Initiative, Washington Storage Company, and the Novecento Corporation. He sits on the Wolfsonian-FIU Advisory Board and the Florida International University Board of Directors and is a trustee for the Mitchell Wolfson Senior Foundation that supports educational and health issues. Also, he is a trustee for the Mitchell Wolfson Family Foundation that supports the

Paris, France

, and a past member of the American Friends of the Louvre. He is on the advisory council of Princeton University’s Department of Comparative Literature and on the advisory council of the Paul N. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Museums

In 1997 he donated his collection, estimated at 80,000 objects, and the state-of-the-art museum to Florida International University. It was the basis for the Wolfsonian Museum-FIU, a research center and museum. In downtown Miami, the new Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Study Centre provides access to a collection of decorative, design and propaganda arts of the period 1885 to 1945. In Italy, the newly inaugurated Wolfsoniana Museum in Genoa exhibits elements from his collection that comprises more than 18,000 works on paper, paintings, sculpture, furniture and decorative objects.

He recently donated his Italian collection to the Fondazione Cristoforo Colombo in Genoa. The City of Genoa has opened the Wolfsoniana Museum and a research center in the local

Doge's Palace

. He also established the Wolfsonian International Council to support an exchange of scholarship and exhibitions between Miami's Wolfsonian-FIU and Genoa's Wolfsoniana.

References

^ "Founder: Mitchell Wolfson Jr". The Wolfsoniana. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
^ "Mitchell Wolfson, who built a downtown Miami movie theater". United Press International. January 29, 1983.
^ Herbert Muschamp New York Times Sunday Magazine [1]; reprinted in his Hearts of the City: The Selected Writings of Herbert Muschamp, Knopf:New York 2009 pp.786-788

External links

[1] "Founder: Mitchell Wolfson Jr". The Wolfsoniana. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[2] "Mitchell Wolfson, who built a downtown Miami movie theater". United Press International. January 29, 1983.

[3] Herbert Muschamp New York Times Sunday Magazine [1]; reprinted in his Hearts of the City: The Selected Writings of Herbert Muschamp, Knopf:New York 2009 pp.786-788

[3]