Cyril Isaac Magnin (July 6, 1899 – June 9, 1988) was an American businessman from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was the chief executive of the

Joseph Magnin Co. The Joseph Magnin Company was a high-end specialty department store founded in San Francisco, California, by Joseph Magnin, 4th son of Isaac Magnin founder of the I. Magnin department store. Joseph Magnin Co. and I. Magnin Co. were rivals. His ...

Early life

Cyril Isaac Magnin was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family on July 6, 1899.Katherine Bishop
Cyril Issac Magnin, 88, Ex-Head Of Store Chain and Patron of Arts
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 9, 1988Mark A. Stein
Revolutionized Clothing Business : Cyril Isaac Magnin, 88; Called 'Mr. San Francisco'
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', June 9, 1988 His father, Joseph Magnin, was the founder of specialty department store

His mother was Charlotte (Davis) Magnin. His paternal grandfather,

Isaac Magnin Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, carver and gilder. He was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California. Early life Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was born into a Je ...

, was a Dutch-born frame carver and gilder. His paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Magnin, was the founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco. His cousin, Edgar Magnin, was the rabbi of the

Wilshire Boulevard Temple The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded ...

, a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

congregation. He was educated at Lowell High School. He then graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he went on to receive a law degree.

Career

He served as the president of

from 1940 to 1952. He then served as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1952 to 1970. It evolved into a multimillion-dollar chain, selling fashion for young women. He served as general partner and chairman of Cyril Magnin Investments Ltd. as well as chairman of Lilli Ann Corp. He also served as president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Philanthropy

He was president of the Port of San Francisco and was instrumental in establishing such internationally renowned institutions as the Asian Art Museum, the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

and the

California Culinary Academy The California Culinary Academy (CCA) was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu located in San Francisco, California. Danielle Carlisle established the school in 1977 to train chefs using the European education model. The origi ...

, serving as head of the California Museums Foundation. He served on the board of directors of the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vi ...

. Additionally, he served as the head of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

for two terms. He was also a fundraiser for the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to co ...

and the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

. He served as the "Chief of Protocol" for the City of San Francisco from 1964 to 1988. As a result, he was nicknamed "Mr. San Francisco" by columnist

Herb Caen Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily columnist, column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuo ...

. He appeared in the films '' Foul Play'', as Pope Pius XIII, and ''

Maxie Maxie is a given name, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Max Baer (boxer) (1909–1959), American world champion heavyweight boxer, nicknamed "Madcap Maxie" * Max Maxie Anderson (1934–1983), American ho ...

'', as Mr. San Francisco. He published his autobiography, ''Call Me Cyril'', in 1981. He was awarded the

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

medal in 1977.

Political advocacy

Magnin was a veteran political fund-raiser and power broker in the Democratic Party. He was treasurer of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's northern California re-election campaign in 1944, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1948 (which nominated President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

) and again in 1964, when he co-chaired the Finance Committee of President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

's campaign in California. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Magnin was one of a quartet of wealthy San Francisco Jewish contributors to Democratic candidates, appreciatively called "The Green Machine" by career politicians, the others being the Fairmont Hotel magnate Benjamin Swig, Lilli Ann clothing company founder Adolph Schuman, and real estate mogul

Walter Shorenstein Walter H. Shorenstein (February 15, 1915 – June 24, 2010)Dennis McLellan (June 26, 2010) ''Los Angeles Times''. was an American billionaire real estate developer and investor. His company, Shorenstein Properties, owned 130 buildings totali ...

. The four did not always agree in their choice of candidates. Magnin himself was a major donor to the presidential candidacies of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

in 1960 and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

in 1968, and, in the interim, developed a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson.Cyril Magnin and Cynthia Robins. ''Call Me Cyril'' (New York, 1981); Bernice Scharlach. ''Dealing From the Heart, A Biography of Benjamin Swig'' (San Francisco, 2000)

Personal life and death

He was married to Anna (Smithline) Magnin, who died in 1948. They had two sons and a daughter: Donald I. Magnin, Jerry A. Magnin and Ellen Magnin Newman. He remarried to Lillian Ryan Helwig in 1951, only to divorce a decade later, in 1961. He identified as a non-practicing Jew. He died on June 9, 1988. The two-block stretch of Fifth Street North, north of

Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

and adjacent to Hallidie Plaza, was renamed Cyril Magnin Street in his honor.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnin, Cyril 1988 deaths 1899 births University of California, Berkeley alumni Businesspeople from San Francisco Philanthropists from California American people of Dutch-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American retail chief executives UC Berkeley School of Law alumni 20th-century American philanthropists Magnin family Lowell High School (San Francisco) alumni