Harry Wulfsohn (March 10, 1911 - August 11, 1969 ) was a partner in Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn. He was born on 10 March 1911 at Frauenburg, what was then the Russian

Courland Governorate The Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland, Governorate of Kurland (german: Kurländisches Gouvernement; russian: Курля́ндская губерния, translit=Kurljándskaja gubernija; lv, Kurzemes guberņa; lt, K ...

, now part of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. In 1929, when he was eighteen years old, Harry's aunt invited him to travel to South Africa with his sister Marlie. Harry worked for some time in the bar of his aunt's hotel, but did not stay long in South Africa. By 1930, he had followed Marlie to Ndola, in the copper belt of

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

, where his sister married Abe Lowenithal, to whom she had been engaged before she left Latvia. However, Marlie died three years later. Her younger sister Hessie, who also followed her to Africa, become Abe's second wife in 1934. Harry did not remain in Ndola, but soon moved south to

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

. He may have been encouraged to leave Ndola by the closure of the Bwana Mkubwa mine in February 1931, which had a devastating effect on the economy of the town. However, another attractive feature of the move to Lusaka was the government's decision to make it the new capital of Northern Rhodesia. The Lusaka new town project was the only potential growth point in the country from 1931 to 1933. The project was being financed by the Beit trust, while development work on the copperbelt came to a halt. Only Nkana and the

Luanshya Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 (2008 census). Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20th century after two prospector/explorer, William Collier shot and killed a Roan A ...

mines had a little activity going on. The copperbelt economy was really in bad shape. On arrival in Lusaka, Wulfsohn got a job with a young Jewish man from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

named David Shapiro. In 1933, Shapiro won the contract to supply all the bricks and tiles for the new town project. Shapiro set up trading stores all around Lusaka and profited more than any other local trader from the development of the new capital. But before long, Harry lost his job, and this may have prompted him to set up in business on his own. In the 1940s, he went into partnership with the

Susman brothers Susman Brothers was a business partnership that united brothers Elie Susman and Harry Susman after they crossed the Zambezi river in 1901. The brothers were Jewish businessmen from Rietavas, western part of Russian Empire, now Lithuania. They f ...

, forming Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn. Harry was a full generation younger than his partners, but shared their Jewish roots in the Russian Empire. The firm of Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn has survived to present day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wulfsohn, Harry 1911 births 1968 deaths People from Courland Governorate Latvian Jews Latvian expatriates Expatriates in South Africa Latvian emigrants to Northern Rhodesia