Ralph Harman Booth (September 29, 1873

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

– June 20, 1931

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) was a non-career appointee who served as the American Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

(1930–1931), appointed by President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, holding o ...

. Booth died in office at the age of 57. His professional background was in banking and journalism, as Secretary of the ''Chicago Journal'' from 1895 to 1904), cashier and business manager (1892–1904) for the ''Detroit Tribune'', and Vice President of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

, 1917–18. He began his career with the Detroit National Bank in 1888. Booth married Myrtle Mary Batterman (1879–1951) on May 23, 1906, and they had two children. Booth was an important donor to the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project complet ...

and served as its president from 1917 to 1919, and then president of its governing body, the Arts Commission of the City of Detroit from 1919 to 1930. In the 1940s, eight paintings from the family's collection were donated to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

. David E. Finley, Director of the National Gallery of Art, proclaimed that the paintings by Italian and German artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries “are among the most important works of art in private possession in this country.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Ralph Harman 1873 births 1931 deaths 20th-century art collectors Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark American bankers American newspaper editors Associated Press people Canadian emigrants to the United States