Benjamin Harrison Swig (born November 17, 1893 - October 31, 1980) was a real estate developer and a philanthropist active in Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

Biography

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-born Benjamin Swig was the son of banker and politician Simon Swig and the father of Melvin Swig. After Simon died, Benjamin became treasurer of the Tremont Trust Company in Boston. From 1925 to 1945, Benjamin Swig was a real estate operator. He was a partner of the real estate firm Swig,

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and Arnow that was founded in 1936, which became the Swig company. In the 1940s, he moved to San Francisco, which he loved. He bought the Fairmont Hotel in 1945, and later the

St. Francis Hotel The Westin St. Francis, formerly known as St. Francis Hotel, is a hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets in San Francisco, adjacent to the whole western edge of Union Square, San Francisco, California, Union Square. The two 12-story south wi ...

. In 1956, he purchased the Mission Inn in Riverside. He sold 1,000 artworks and artifacts from the hotel to revitalize its finances to no avail. In the early 1970s, the troubled elections at the

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led the students to picket the Fairmont Hotel to protest against Benjamin Swig, who also served as SCU's Chairman of the board of trustees. After Swig repeatedly petitioned in his favor, the City of San Francisco granted the Key of the City to

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in 1973. In 1977, his son Melvin created the Mae and Benjamin Swig Chair in Judaic Studies at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, the first ever Jewish Studies chair and program at a Catholic university worldwide.

Other tenures

* Member of the Board of directors of the American Joint Distribution Committee * Member of the national Boards of the United Jewish Appeal * Member of the Israel Bond Organization * Member of the American Jewish Committee * Member of the Zionist Organization of America * Member of the Jewish Welfare Board * Member of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Awards and recognition

* Knighted twice by the Vatican * Outstanding Civilian Service Medal

Personal life

Benjamin Swig was married to Mae Aronovitz.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swig, Benjamin Harrison American businesspeople in real estate Real estate and property developers 1893 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists Swig family 20th-century American Jews