Eugen Gutmann (24 June 1840 - 21 August 1925) was a German banker, philanthropist and art collector who is primarily known for founding Dresdner Bank and co-founder of Deutsche Orientbank and the German-South American merchant bank.[1]
He primarily collected silverware which was partially sold to J. P. Morgan and today is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[2][3][4] Gutmann is also the namesake of the Eugen-Gutmann-Society (Eugen-Gutmann-Gesellschaft) which is the historical association preserving the history of Commerzbank.[5]
Early life and education
Gutmann was born 24 June 1840 in Dresden, Saxony, the third of twelve children, to Bernhard Gutmann (né Baruch Gutmann), a private banker, and Maria (née Lederer), who was originally from Bohemia.[6] He was raised in a wealthy Jewish family.[7]
In 1872, Gutmann advised the v. Kaskel family, to form a stock corporation and turn their family bank into Dresdner Bank[8]. Between 1872 and 1920, Gutmann served as chairman of the supervisory board and is referred to as the founder of the banking institute. In 1905, he was the co-founder of Deutsche Orientbank and the German-South American merchant bank. He was also notable for being the financier and board member of several companies in the German heavy industry.
In 1873, Gutmann married Sophie Magnus-Gerson, of Leipzig. They had seven children;
Lili Eugenie Anna Gutmann (1874–1967), who married twice to Luca Orsini Baroni, an Italian politician and diplomat and then to Adolf Freiherr von Holzing-Berstett, a nobleman.
Friedrich Bernhard Eugen Gutmann (1886–1944), married to Erika Luise Freiin von Landau (1892–1944); both murdered during The Holocaust; two children who later used the surname Goodman.
Gutmann died aged 85 on 21 August 1925 in Munich. Gutmann and his family converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1889.
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