Samuel Adolph Lewisohn (March 21, 1884 – March 13, 1951) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

, and non-fiction author.James Karman, ''The Collected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, with Selected Letters of Una Jeffers: Volume Two, 1931–1939,'' Stanford University Press, 12 okt. 2011. He is also known as first president of the

American Management Association The American Management Association (AMA) is an American non-profit educational membership organization for the promotion of management, based in New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world. It o ...

.
Sam A. Lewisohn, 1884-1951
' Stamford, Conn. : The Overbrook Press. 1951.William Lazonick. ''American Corporate Economy: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, Volume 2.'' Taylor & Francis, 2002. p. 316

Biography

Youth, education and early career

Lewisohn was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1884, the son of

Adolph Lewisohn Adolph Lewisohn (May 27, 1849 – August 17, 1938) was a German Jewish immigrant born in Hamburg who became a New York City investment banker, mining magnate, and philanthropist. He is the namesake of Lewisohn Hall (which formerly housed the Colu ...

and Emma Cahn Lewisohn. After attending the

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School ("Columbia Grammar", "Columbia Prep", "CGPS", "Columbia") is a school at 5 West 93rd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The oldest nonsectarian independent school in the city, it se ...

, he graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1904 and from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1907. His father was of

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 ...

background. After his graduation in 1907, Lewisohn started working for the New York law firm

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm specializes in litigation and corporate practices, particularly mergers and acquisitions and private equity, with approximately 1,500 attorneys in 1 ...

. In 1910 he joined his father's law firm Adolph Lewisohn & Sons, where he kept serving as lawyer. In

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served as District Superintendent at the Bureau of War Risk Insurance in 1918-19.

Later career and honors

Lewisohn's career as editor and nonfiction writer took off in 1907, when he had started as editor of the ''

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who s ...

.'' He published some articles in the early 1920s, and published his first main work in 1926, entitled ''The New Leadership in Industry.'' This work was translated into French, German, and Japanese. Lewisohn served in a number of positions in his later career. He was

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

and Member of Executive Committee of the

Citizens Union Citizens Union is a New York City-based good government group founded in 1897 to combat the influences of the Tammany Hall political machine. J. Pierpont Morgan, Benjamin Altman, Elihu Root, and Carl Schurz numbered among its 165 founders. In 1 ...

from 1918 to 1931. He was a member of the Economic Advisory Commission of President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

's Conference on Unemployment of 1921. In 1923 he was one of the founders of the

, and served as its first president from 1924 to 1927. He was succeeded by Frank L. Sweetser. Lewisohn became a member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

in 1927; Director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, where he served as director until his death; member of the New York State Commission of Correction in 1928, and many other positions in industry, government, and culture.

Art collecting

Lewisohn was a major art collector and trustee of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

. Upon his death, a number of important modern art works were donated to the Met, including works by

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that ...

, Cezanne, Sterne, and

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

Family and death

Lewisohn's father

and his brothers, Julius and

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

, were known as "copper kings" after making their fortune opening copper mines to meet demand for copper wire with the advent of electricity; Adolph Lewisohn was also a leader in prison reform.Jewish Women's Archive: "Adele Lewisohn Lehman 1882–1965" by Laurie Sokol
retrieved October 30, 2015 Lewisohn's sister

Adele Lewisohn Lehman Adele Lewisohn Lehman (May 17, 1882 – August 11, 1965) was an American philanthropist and member of the Lehman family. Biography Adele Lewisohn Lehman was born to a Jewish family on May 17, 1882, in New York City, the daughter of Emma (née C ...

married

Arthur Lehman Arthur W. Lehman (September 24, 1917 – June 19, 2009) was a widely recorded American euphonium virtuoso and soloist. He was noted for having radically changed the way the instrument was technically performed, and was a major influence on euphoni ...

(1873–1936), of the

Lehman family The Lehman family (also Lehmann, Liehmann or Liehman) is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgen ...

. In 1918, Lewisohn married Margaret Valentine Seligman (1895–1954), a daughter of

Joseph Seligman Joseph Seligman (November 22, 1819 – April 25, 1880) was an American banker and businessman who founded J. & W. Seligman & Co. He was the patriarch of what became known as the Seligman family in the United States and related to the wealthy Gug ...

and a "nationally known leader in education." Their third daughter was

Elizabeth Eisenstein Elizabeth Lewisohn Eisenstein (October 11, 1923 – January 31, 2016) was an American historian of the French Revolution and early 19th-century France. She is well known for her work on the history of early printing, writing on the transition in ...

, a notable historian of the French Revolution and early 19th-century France. Lewisohn died in 1951.

Selected publications

* Lewisohn, Sam Adolph, et al. ''Can Business Prevent Unemployment.'' Knopf, 1925. * Lewisohn, Sam Adolph. ''The new leadership in industry.'' New York: EP Dutton, 1926. *

Scott Nearing Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living. Biography Early years Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga County ...

, Sam Adolph Lewisohn, Malcolm Churchill Rorty, and

Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqu ...

. ''The Future of Capitalism and Socialism in America.'' New York: League for Industrial Democracy, 1927. * Lewisohn, Sam Adolph. Personalities Past and Present. 1939. * Lewisohn, Sam Adolph. ''Human leadership in industry: the challenge of tomorrow.'' New York and London, 1945. * Lewisohn, Sam Adolph. ''Painters and personality: a collector's view of modern art.'' Harper, 1948. ;Articles, a selection: * Lewisohn, Sam A. "The living wage and the national income." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 38.2 (1923): 219-226. * Lewisohn, Sam A. "New aspects of unemployment insurance." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 50.1 (1935): 1-14. * Lewisohn, Sam A. "Mexican Murals and Diego Rivera." ''Parnassus'' 7.7 (1935): 11-12. * Lewisohn, Sam A. "Psychology in economics." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 53.2 (1938): 233-238.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewisohn, Sam Adolph 1884 births 1951 deaths American art collectors American financiers 20th-century American lawyers American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philanthropists Princeton University alumni Columbia Law School alumni Simpson Thacher & Bartlett people Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School alumni Lewisohn family Presidents of the American Management Association Writers from New York City