Charles Emil Smith (né Schmidoff; March 28, 1901 – December 30, 1995) was a real estate developer and philanthropist in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Biography

Smith (born Schmidoff), was born in Lipnick,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

on March 28, 1901 to an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the son of Sadie and Reuven Schmidoff. He immigrated to Brownsville, Brooklyn in 1911 speaking only

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

upon his arrival. He started as a developer in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, but lost everything in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He moved to Rockville, MD where he first developed apartments and later office buildings. He founded the Charles E. Smith Co. and developed the Crystal City area of

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. He retired in 1967 and turned to philanthropy.

Philanthropy

He planned a complex in Rockville for Jewish agencies including the

Hebrew Home for the Aged The Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS) was founded in 1960 as the North American Association of Jewish Homes and Housing for the Aging (NAJHHA). It was created and continues to function as the central coordinator for homes and residenti ...

, the Jewish Social Service Agency and the Jewish Community Center. He was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

(GWU) from 1967 to 1976 as well as Chairman of the Committee on University Development. The

Charles E. Smith Athletic Center The Charles E. Smith Center is a 5,000-seat multipurpose arena in the United States' capital, Washington, D.C. Opened on November 17, 1975, it is home to the George Washington University Colonials men's and women's basketball teams, as well as ...

at George Washington University is named in his honor. He played a key role in developing GW's branch campus in Loudoun County, Virginia. His contributions to Jewish philanthropy include: *

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, often referred to as CESJDS or JDS, is a private, pluralistic Jewish JK-12 school located in two campuses in North Bethesda ( Rockville postal address), Maryland, United States.

* Charles E. Smith Life Communities * Hartman High School- Charles E. Smith High School for Boys * Charles E. Smith Family and Prof. Joel Elkes Laboratory for Collaborative Research in Psychobiology * Charles E. Smith chair in Judaic studies at GWU Smith held honorary doctorates from

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, the Jewish Theological Seminary and

. In 1997 he was posthumously awarded an

Honor Award The National Building Museum promotes excellence in architecture, engineering, construction, planning, and design. In furtherance of that mission, the Museum instituted an annual Honor Award in 1986 to recognize individuals and organizations that h ...

from the

National Building Museum The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private Non-profit org ...

alongside other community developers of Washington, D.C., including

Morris Cafritz Morris Cafritz ( - June 13, 1964) was a Washington, D.C. real estate developer, and philanthropist. As CEO of the Cafritz Company, he was Washington, D.C.'s largest private developer from the late 1920's to the early 1960's. Early life and educa ...

and Charles A. Horsky.

Personal life

Smith married twice. His first wife was Leah Goldstein of Yonkers whom he married on February 8, 1927; they had two children, Robert H. Smith and Arlene Smith Kogod (married to

Robert P. Kogod Robert P. Kogod is a business executive and philanthropist. Along with his brother-in-law, Robert Smith (philanthropist), Robert H. Smith, Kogod led the Charles E. Smith Companies, the real estate company that developed much of the Crystal City, Vi ...

). Leah died in 1972. His second wife was Miriam Schuman Uretz Smith.

References

Writings

* * *

External links