Benny Goldschmidt (2 October 1810 - 8 November 1892) was a Jewish-
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the two owners of Goldschmidt & Nordholm and the founder of Goldschmidts Stiftelse at
Ryesgade
Ryesgade is a street straddling the border of the Nørrebro and Østerbro districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with Ravnsborggade, its continuation to the south, it forms the backbone of a small neighbourhood bounded by The Lakes to the e ...
19 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
.
Early life and education
Goldschmidt was born on 2 October 1810 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, the son of J. S. Goldschmidt (1774-1850). His father had established his own dyeing plant in 1800. Benny Goldschmidt apprenticed as a dyer in Viborg.
Career
Goldschmidt returned to Copenhagen to manage his father's factory in 1835 and became the owner of the factory in 1842. Its name was changed to Goldschmidt & Nordholm when he in 1869 entered into a partnership with Swedish dyer Anders Nordholm (born 1848) and a new
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
dyeing plant was that same year inaugurated at
Ryesgade
Ryesgade is a street straddling the border of the Nørrebro and Østerbro districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with Ravnsborggade, its continuation to the south, it forms the backbone of a small neighbourhood bounded by The Lakes to the e ...
23.
Benny Goldschmidt retired in 1880, ceding his share of the company to his nephew Johan Goldschmidt (born 1855, name changed to Guildal om 1907).
Personal life and legacy
Goldschmidt married Anna Helene Christensdatter, Petersen in Viborg. They had no children and were both buried at Viborg Cemetery. They founded Grosserer B. Goldschmidts og hustrus stiftelse
om 1872 and a building with free or affordable housing for indigent dyers was completed at Ryesgade 31 in 1893. They left a grant of DKK 6,000 and J. F. Willumsen's monumental painting ''Glassmakers at Hellerup Glassworks'' to the city of Viborg. The painting has since 2009 been loaned out to the Willumsen Museum in
Frederikssund
Frederikssund () is a Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden with a population of 16,850 (1 January 2022).Sigfred Goldschmidt