Reinhard Goerdeler (26 May 1922 – 3 January 1996) was a German

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

who was instrumental in founding

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

, the leading international firm of accountants.

Career

Goerdeler was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(today Kaliningrad) as the son of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, a leading anti-Nazi activist and mayor of the city of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. While his father was on trial at the Volksgerichtshof after the 20 July plot, Goerdeler and his family were imprisoned by the Nazis at the Dachau concentration camp and in late April 1945 transferred to Tyrol together with about 140 other prominent inmates, where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on May 5, 1945. After leaving full-time education, Goerdeler joined Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft (DTG) and worked his way up to the position of

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

, in which role he sought to expand the firm into an international network which could service his largest clients. His efforts led him to found Klynveld Main Goerdeler in 1979. Goerdeler was also the first president of the

International Federation of Accountants The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global organization for the accountancy profession. Founded in 1977, IFAC has 180 members and associates in 135 jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public prac ...

(IFAC), the global organization for the accountancy profession. In retirement he was a

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

of the Max-Reger-Institute until he died on 3 January 1996.

References

KPMG Hungary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goerdeler, Reinhard 1922 births 1996 deaths German Army personnel of World War II German accountants Businesspeople from Königsberg KPMG people Dachau concentration camp survivors