Athanase Adolphe Henri Boissevain (8 March 1843 – 1 April 1921) was a Dutch banker who financed North American railways. He was from a prominent

Boissevain family Boissevain is the name of a Dutch patrician family of Huguenot origin. History The family originates from the Dordogne in France. Lucas Bouyssavy (1660–1705) appears to have been the founder of today's Boissevain family.

that had long been active in the banking and insurance industries in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. He founded the banking company Adolphe Boissevain & Co in 1875. This firm was active in two fields: the introduction of American securities on the

Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The r ...

and securities arbitrage between Amsterdam, New York and London. In 1888, in order to improve his position, he founded (in cooperation with his American partners, the Blake Brothers) the London-based company Blake, Boissevain & Co. Together the three companies were a strong alliance in the 3 main financial centers. The firm Boissevain & Co. was trading in 1913 (evidenced by March 6, 1913, purchase of shares in

Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (commonly called American Marconi) was incorporated in 1899. It was established as a subsidiary of the British Marconi Company and held the U.S. and Cuban rights to Guglielmo Marconi's radio (then ...

held in the name of Boissevain & Co.). Adolphe‘s first assistant in the securities arbitrage business was J.L. Pierson who later became partner in the company. A few years after Adolphe retired the name of the firm was changed to Pierson & Co., predecessor of the present well-known investment bank MeesPierson. One of Adolphe's primary businesses was in financing railway companies, particularly railway companies. He helped reorganize Union Pacific in 1893. He was also one of

William Van Horne Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian transcontinental railway, a project that was completed in 1885, in under half the projected time. He succe ...

's main contacts in organizing financing for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. Along this line is situated, in Manitoba, the town of

Boissevain, Manitoba Boissevain () is an unincorporated urban community in Manitoba near the North Dakota border that held town status prior to 2015. It is located within the Municipality of Boissevain – Morton. Boissevain is a community of just over 1,500 people an ...

, named after Adolphe and carrying the family coat of arms. In Virginia, too, there is a small town Boissevain also named after Adolphe because of his involvement in financing the Norfolk & Western Railways.

Europe

Adolphe was also active in other European countries. In 1887 he was cofounder of one of the largest international banks in Switzerland the Schweizerischer Bankverein (now

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...

). During 18 years he was a member of the board of directors. Later on his London firm Blake, Boissevain & Co was sold to this bank. Of course Adolphe traveled a lot. He often took the Friday night boat from Harwich to Hoek van Holland, stayed a week-end in his country estate Prins Hendriksoord in the Netherlands and on Sunday he took the night boat back to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boissevain, Adolphe 1843 births 1921 deaths Dutch bankers Businesspeople from Amsterdam Adolphe