Samuel Bronfman Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Samuel Bronfman
OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur
BIRTH DATE: February 27, 1889
DEATH DATE: July 10, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH: Soroki, Bessarabia, Moldova
PLACE OF DEATH: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Best Known For

Samuel Bronfman founded Distillers Corporation Limited, a Montreal-based distiller that supplied American bootleggers with alcohol during U.S. Prohibition.

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Samuel Bronfman

APA Style

Samuel Bronfman. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:11, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627.

Harvard Style

Samuel Bronfman. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627 [Accessed 22 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Samuel Bronfman." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 10:11 http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627.

MHRA Style

"Samuel Bronfman," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627 [accessed May 22, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Samuel Bronfman," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627 (accessed May 22, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Samuel Bronfman [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627.

Bluebook Style

Samuel Bronfman, http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627 (last visited May 22, 2013).

AMA Style

Samuel Bronfman. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-bronfman-9542627. Accessed May 22, 2013.

Synopsis

The son of Russian-Jews, Samuel Bronfman became wealthy during the U.S. Prohibition by supplying American bootleggers with alcohol. His Montreal-based distillery, Distillers Corporation Limited, acquired Seagram & Sons in 1928. By the 1940s, the company was the largest distiller in Canada or the U.S. At the time of his death in 1971, Bronfman had amassed a fortune of more than $400 million.

Profile

A native of Canada, Bronfman was the son of Russian-Jewish emitters. Adistiller, he became a wealthy man during the U.S. Prohibition by supplyingAmerican bootleggers with alcohol, a precious commodity in the 1920s. HisMontreal-based distillery, Distillers Corp., Ltd. acquired Seagram & Sonsin 1928. The newly-formed conglomerate grew rapidly through the 1920s and30s and became, by the 1940s, the largest distiller in either Canada or theUnited States. At the time of his death in 1971, Bronfman had amassed afortune of more than $400 million and was a major contributor to Zionistcauses. After his death, Seagram was taken over by his son Edgar, and byhis grandson Edgar, Jr. in 1989.