Bernard Gerald Cantor (December 17, 1916 – July 3, 1996) was the founder and chairman of securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Career

Cantor's parents were Rose (née Delson) and Julius Cantor, Jewish immigrants from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. Born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

on December 17, 1916, Cantor attended DeWitt Clinton High School. He and his first wife, Leona (deceased) had one son, Jay, who chose not to follow his father into the financial world. Cantor studied law and finance at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

between 1935 and 1937 and soon afterwards became a securities analyst on Wall Street. After serving in the army in the South Pacific during the Second World War, he established B.G. Cantor and Company, which would later become Cantor FitzgeraldEdward Helmore (July 13, 1996)
Obituary: Gerald Cantor
''

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''. L.P., a New York City-based partnership that was among the biggest institutional brokers of Government securities in the United States. He stepped down in December 1995 because of declining health. He was also a co-owner of the

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of the

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for a time.Eric Pace (July 6, 1996)
B. Gerald Cantor, Philanthropist and Owner of Rodin Collection, Is Dead at 79
''

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''.

Art collection

After he married Iris Bazel in 1977 the couple became one of the most important benefactors of fine art in New York through the founding of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. During his life, along with his wife, Cantor assembled the world's largest private collection of works by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

. Between 1981 and 1984, part of the Cantor Rodin collection was displayed in a private museum beside Cantor's 105th-floor offices in the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

. Much of the collection was donated to over 70 art institutions worldwide, such as the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

and the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

.Haven, Cynthia
"Passion for Rodin"
''Stanford Report'', February 18, 2009. Accessed October 3, 2009. From 1984 to 1987, the Cantors gave 58 Rodins and the money to install them in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The Cantors underwrote many art exhibitions and endowed galleries at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, including the popular Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, as well as a sculpture garden and his namesake museum at Stanford. According to the foundation, the total number of Rodin sculptures in the private Cantor collection was about 300, and that the total number of Rodin sculptures that had been given away by the Cantors or the foundation over the years was more than 450. The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation continues to underwrite exhibitions. In 1997, the

Morris Museum Actively running since 1913, the Morris Museum is the second largest museum in New Jersey at . The museum is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Museum history 1913–1957: early years The Morris Children's Museum was founde ...

, Morristown, showed "Focus on Rodin: Selections From the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection". "Rodin at Rockefeller Center: Sculpture from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation" was mounted at the Rockefeller Center, New York, in 1998. Later, the exhibition "Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession" was organized and toured internationally by the foundation, travelling, among others, to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, Baton Rouge;

Albany Institute of History & Art The Albany Institute of History & Art (AIHA) is a museum in Albany, New York, United States, "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region". ...

, Albany; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Cantor was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum from 1985 to 1990. In later years, he was an honorary trustee and a member of the visiting committee for the museum's department of European sculpture and decorative arts. He was also a life trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1972 to 1985 and subsequently an honorary trustee.

Philanthropy

Other Cantor assistance has gone to

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

in Worcester, Mass., the

UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, also known as the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of eleven professional schools. The school offers MBA (ful ...

, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. When the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

unveiled the redecorated

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in 1993, it displayed a bronze cast of Rodin's "Thinker," which President Clinton had personally arranged to borrow from the Cantor collection. The Cantors also financed a sculpture garden at the White House in 1994. In 1995, he and his wife were awarded the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

.Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts

References

External links

from The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation
BGCpartners.com: B. Gerald Cantor Partners history

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.org: "Rodin: The B. Gerald Cantor Collection"
— ''exhibition catalog, full text''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, B. Gerald American financial company founders American investment bankers American art collectors Philanthropists from New York (state) 1916 births 1996 deaths United States National Medal of Arts recipients Businesspeople from Los Angeles Philanthropists from California DeWitt Clinton High School alumni New York University School of Law alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent People from Bel Air, Los Angeles People from the Bronx United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from New York City Cantor Fitzgerald Kansas City Kings owners