Benjamin Frederik David Philips (

Zaltbommel Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. History The city of Zaltbommel The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...

, 1 December 1830 – 12 June 1900) was a Dutch-Jewish industrialist and banker who, together with his son Gerard Philips, stood at the cradle of what would eventually be called Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. He was also the cousin of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

on his mother's side.

Life

Frederik Philips was born in 1830 as the fourth son of Lion Philips, of the prominent Jewish Philips family, and Sophie Pressburg, sister of Henriette Pressburg and daughter of

Nanette Salomons Cohen Henriette Marx ( Pressburg;; ; 20 September 1788 – 30 November 1863) was a Dutch-born woman who was the mother of the communist philosopher Karl Marx. Life Henriette Pressburg was born on 20 September 1788 in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Sh ...

. His family then made a living from the tobacco trade and would later convert from

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. Frederik married Maria Elizabeth Heijligers, a Dutch woman born in Batavia, today

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, then a Dutch colony. They had two daughters and seven sons, including

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...

and Anton Philips. From 1891 to 1898, Frederik Philips was in charge of Philips & Co as a moneylender. His son Gerard was promoted in 1898 from procurator to co-partner. Frederik Philips died in 1900 in his native Zaltbommel at the age of 69.

References

1830 births 1900 deaths 19th-century industrialists 19th-century Dutch businesspeople People from Zaltbommel Dutch Jews Converts to Calvinism from Judaism {{Netherlands-bio-stub