Joseph Saul Gruss ( March 19, 1903 – July 3, 1993)Gruss Life Monument Fund: "Our Founders – The Gruss Life Monument Funds was established in 1991 to perpetuate the philanthropic endeavors of Caroline and Joseph Gruss. Mrs. Gruss died in 1987, Mr. Gruss in 1993, but there is no doubt that their legacy is eternal"
retrieved March 12, 2015 was an Austro-Hungarian Empire–born American financier, businessman, and philanthropist who supported

Jewish education Jewish education (, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah ...

.New York Times: "Joseph Gruss, 91, Philanthropist Who Supported Jewish Schools" By ERIC PACE
July 5, 1993

Early life

Joseph Saul Gruss was born on March 19, 1903, 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 in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Austro-Hungarian Empire as one of seven children. His father, Isaac, was a

Talmudic The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

scholar and banker; his mother belonged to a family involved in the export grain business.

Career

In 1939, Gruss founded a travel agency in New York City. While he and his wife were in the United States, the Nazis invaded eastern Europe, and they were unable to return home. Their first-born child and many of their relatives were murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. In 1942, he founded the

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

firm Gruss & Company, The Tikvah Center at NYU School of Law: "The Annual Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Lecture"
retrieved March 12, 2015 which focused on mergers and arbitrage primarily in the oil and gas industries. Thereafter, he engaged in

oil and gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods ...

and development primarily in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Philanthropy

In the 1970s, Gruss focused on philanthropy particularly for Jewish education. He supported hundreds of Jewish schools and thousands of students and educators. He funded

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

's Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Institute in Jerusalem; the Caroline Zelaznik Gruss and Joseph S. Gruss Visiting Professorship in Talmudic Civil Law; and the Fund for Jewish Education in association with the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and the

United Jewish Appeal The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

of New York. In 1989, he funded the expansion of the White Plains campus of the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester to help accommodate the demands of Westchester's largest Jewish day school. The Gruss Life Monument Fund was founded in 1991 to continue his charitable activities after his death. The upper school of the Kamenitz Yeshiva in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

is named Joseph S Gruss Yeshiva High School.

Personal life

In 1934, he married Caroline Zelaznik (died 1987), a lawyer. They had three children. Their first child died in the Holocaust. Their surviving children, born in the United States, were Martin David Gruss and Evelyn Gruss Lipper. His daughter was married to the Hollywood producer, author, and former New York City deputy mayor

Kenneth Lipper Kenneth Lipper (born June 19, 1941) has worked as a lawyer, investment banker, stockbroker, writer and film producer. He is best known for his brokerage firm, Lipper & Company; writing the novelizations of the films ''Wall Street'' and ''City Hal ...

Death and legacy

Gruss died of heart failure on July 3, 1993. His grandson, Joshua Carl Gruss, married the fashion designer

Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss (born May 29, 1975) is an American writer and fashion designer and the founder and creative director of the fashion label Shoshanna, which was launched in 1998. Career In 1998, with a loan from her father, Zach Lonstei ...

.New York Times: "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Shoshanna Lonstein, Joshua Gruss"
May 11, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruss, Joseph S. 1903 births 1993 deaths American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American business executives Polish emigrants to the United States Ukrainian Jews 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American Jews