Samuel David Alexander

Samuel David Alexander
Samuel David Alexander
	née Neumann) Alexander
Children	Vera (b. ?); Gizela (b. 189?); Mira (b. 1902); Ivo (b. 1898); Božidar (b. 1900); Branko (b. 1902); Dragutin (b. 1904)
Relatives	Šandor Alexander; (brother); Oskar Alexander; (cousin); Viktor Alexander; (cousin)

Samuel "Sami" David Alexander (13 July 1862 – 8 March 1943) was a

Croatian Jewish industrialist, doyen of Croatian industrialists, a philanthropist and a member of the Zagreb prominent Alexander family.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Background and family

Alexander, known as Der Gescheite (The Smart One), was born in Zagreb to a Jewish family.

née Neumann), the daughter of Varaždin businessman Wolf Neumann. With his wife Alexander had three daughters, Vera (died as a child), Gizela and Mira, and four sons, Ivo, Božidar, Branko and Dragutin. All his children were born in Sisak.^[5] Alexander was an active member of the Israelites of Zagreb community.^[6] Since 1885 he was the president of the choral society "Danica". In 1915 he moved back to Zagreb with his family.^[5]^[3] Alexander was member of the society "Narodni rad - društvo židovskih asimilanata i anticionista u Hrvatskoj" (Peoples work - Society of Jewish assimilates and anti Zionists in Croatia).^[2]

Business career

He was known as an organizational genius.^[7]^[8] In 1893, Alexander bought a brewery in Sisak, "Sisačka pivovara".^[9]^[8] In Sisak he was elected as the representative in the city assembly^[10] and was vice president of the savings cooperatives for Sisak and surrounding areas.^[11]^[8] Alexander owned the ceramic factory "Titanit", chemical factory "Danica", cement factory "Croatia", colliery "Mirna", cooking oil factory "Zagreb" (now "Zvijezda") and was major shareholder of Zagrebačka pivovara.^[9]^[8] Alexander co-founded the "Zagreb Stock Exchange for the goods and values" (now "Zagreb Stock Exchange")^[8]^[12] and was co-founder of "Zagreb assembly" (now "Zagreb Fair").^[9]^[8] He was also the elected president of "Industrialists Union" in 1919, and board member of the "Commercial Chamber".^[1]^[9]^[13]^[8] Alexander also owned several residential buildings in Zagreb. In the "Industrialists Union" he promoted and protected Croatian industry against Hungary and its economic policy in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Under his leadership all of Croatia and Slavonia industry was assembled under the "Industrialists Union". Alexander donated a great deal of his profits to charity.^[14]^[8]^[3]

Later life

Alexander was a great philanthropist who often aided the city of Zagreb, the poor and those in need.

Auschwitz.^[16]^[17]^[18]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Snješka Knežević (2011, p. 48)
^ ^a ^b Goldstein (2005, pp. 174, 268, 269)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Domaš Nalbantić (1996, pp. 38, 39, 40, 44)
^ Kraus (1998, p. 134)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Schwarz (1939)
^ Imenik (1911, p. 124)
^ Kraus, Ognjen. "Židovi i Zagreb - Zagreb i Židovi" (PDF) (in Croatian). Židovska opčina Zagreb.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Goldstein (2001, pp. 186, 187, 188)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Banac (1988, pp. 409)
^ Imenik (1894, p. 60)
^ Imenik (1908, p. 165)
^ "Hrvatska burza u prošlosti" (in Croatian). Zagreb Stock Exchange.
^ Kolar, Mira. "Zagrebačka pivovara do 1945" (in Croatian). Matica hrvatska.
^ Svijet (1929, p. 609)
^ "U nedjeljnom prvi put cijela istina: Dugo se mislilo da je bio Gestapov doušnik. Sada se otkriva da je spasio 80 Židova" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
^ (in Croatian) B.M.; HR-DAZG-1154 Obitelj Vinski; Državni arhiv u Zagrebu; 30 Listopad 2008, Zagreb
^ Goldstein (2005, p. 299)
^ Frank, Robert (2011-05-10). "Ivanović: Hrvatska nije vlasnik 44 posto Ine" (in Croatian). limun.hr. Retrieved 2012-07-24. Uz IPOIL obitelji Ivanović, vlasništvo Ine nakon Drugog svjetskog rata postala i imovina obitelji Marić. Artura Marica, jednog od velikih vlasnika hrvatskog naftnog biznisa prije rata, već na samom njegovom početku ubio je njegov vozač, agent Gestapoa. Supruga mu je ubijena u Auschwitzu 1944. godine, a država je imovinu konfiscirala sa zadnjim ispaljenim metkom.