Robert Boehringer (30 July 1884 – 9 August 1974) was a German

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. Boehringer was the son of a factory owner. He spent his childhood, youth, and student years in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, where he earned his Ph.D. at the local university. Until 1920 he was the head of the family firm C.H. Boehringer in

Ingelheim Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein (), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen Districts of Germany, district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's left bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat sin ...

. From 1931, he was involved in the establishment of

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

in Basel and was a close friend of 1930s Roche leader . While he belonged to the ultra-pietist Boehringer family originally from

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, his esoteric views often conflicted with the Roche company culture cultivated by Barrell, leading to a falling out that was only reconciled shortly before Barrell's death. In 1930 he settled in Geneva. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Boehringer gave up his German citizenship and became a Swiss national. He founded the Commission mixte de Secours de la Croix Rouge Internationale and after the war he worked for J. R. Geigy AG. From about 1905, Boehringer became a member of the circle of

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential liter ...

and one of his most trusted friends. After George's death, Boehringer inherited and administered George's estate. In 1959 he established the ''Stefan George Foundation'' and the ''Stefan George Archive''. Works by Boehringer: „Über das Leben von Gedichten“, „Bildnisse und Nachweise“ and „Das Antlitz des Genius“. Boehringers papers are held by the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture ...

Literature

*Boehringer, Robert: ''Gedenken an Robert Boehringer'', Stefan-George-Stiftung, Stuttgart 1994. Ed. Michael Stettler.

References

External links

Short biography, City of Ingelheim
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boehringer, Robert 1884 births 1974 deaths People from Winnenden Businesspeople from Basel-Stadt Boehringer Ingelheim people Red Cross personnel Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male writers German emigrants to Switzerland