Martin Eli Segal (July 4, 1916 – August 5, 2012) was a Russian-born American businessman who co-founded the
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Film at Lincoln Center (FLC), previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a nonprofit organization based in New York Cit ...
in 1969 with two other
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...
executives,
William F. May William May may refer to:
Politicians
* William L. May (1793–1849), U.S. Representative from Illinois
* William May (Northern Ireland politician) (1909–1962), unionist politician in Northern Ireland
* William May (MP for Tavistock), English po ...
and
Schuyler G. Chapin
Schuyler Garrison Chapin (February 13, 1923 – March 7, 2009) was a General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and later Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City during the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He also served as the de ...
.
He also served as the Film Society's founding president and CEO until 1978.
Segal was founding chair of the Commission for Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Assistance Center, and the New York International Festival of the Arts.
Segal was born in
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(now located in present-day
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
), in 1916 and immigrated to the United States.
[ He is a former ]Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
columnist and founder of human resource and benefits consulting firm, The Segal Group, which he founded in October 1939.[ Segal served as the General Chairman of the ''Night of 100 Stars II'' on February 17, 1985, the first AIDS benefit held by the ]Actors' Fund of America
The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports performers and behind-the-scenes workers in performing arts and Show business, entertainment, helping more than 17,000 people directl ...
.[
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (MESTC), located at the ]CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...
in New York City, was renamed for Segal in March 1999.[ It was founded as the Center for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts (CASTA) in 1979. He died at his Manhattan home in 2012. He was 96.
The Martin E. Segal Awards were established by Lincoln Center’s Board when Mr. Segal retired as Chairman in 1986. Marking the commitment of the late Mr. Segal to support rising artists, Lincoln Center’s 11 resident organizations nominate an artist annually for the distinguished prize, which gives financial assistance and recognition to young artists of exceptional accomplishment. Martin E. Segal Award recipients include:
Melissa Aldana]
References
External links
Martin E. Segal papers, 1929–2012
Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Martin E.
1916 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Belarusian Jews
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent