Bernard Briskin (May 21, 1924 – February 29, 2020) was an American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He was the co-founder of

Gelson's Markets Gelson's is a regional supermarket chain operating in Southern California. It operates service-oriented stores mostly in upscale neighborhoods. The Mayfair Connection actually began years before Gelson's did. Estimates put the genesis of the cha ...

, a supermarket chain in Southern California, and was its chairman until 2014.

Early life

Bernard Briskin was born May 21, 1924. His father,

Samuel J. Briskin Samuel J. Briskin (February 8, 1896 – November 14, 1968) was one of the foremost producers of Hollywood's Golden Age, and head of production during his career at three of the " Big 8" major film studios: Columbia Pictures (twice), Paramount P ...

, was a film producer and philanthropist. Briskin was educated at the Black-Foxe Military Institute and Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California, until he went to prep school in New England at Worcester Academy, and returned to the West coast, where he graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1943. During World War II, he served at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton for 33 months. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor of science in business administration in 1949.

Career

Briskin started his career as Norton Simon's assistant. Briskin co-founded

, a supermarket chain in Southern California, in 1951. He served as the chief executive officer and president of the Arden Group (a holding company for Gelson's Markets which includes two subsidiaries, Arden-Mayfair and Mayfair Reality) from 1978 to 2014, and as its chairman from 1994 to 2014. Briskin serves as the chairman, president and chief executive officer of AMG Holdings, an investment holding company founded in 2011 and based in the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

Philanthropy

Through the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Briskin has made charitable contributions to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He has also supported the

Temple Israel of Hollywood Temple Israel of Hollywood is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Hollywood, California founded in 1926. Services were originally held in the Hayakawa Mansion before the first Temple Israel building was established on Ivar Street under the leadership ...

, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, and the Venice Family Clinic. In 2015, he endowed the Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.

Personal life

Briskin was married to Judy for 48 years, and they had eight children. He died at home on February 29, 2020.

References

1924 births 2020 deaths Beverly Hills High School alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Businesspeople from California American company founders Philanthropists from California {{California-stub