Bronfman Family

The Bronfman family is a Canadian family, known for its extensive business holdings. It owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), the most influential Canadian Jew of the mid-20th century, who made a fortune in the alcoholic distilled beverage business during American prohibition through founding the Seagram Company, and who later became president of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1939–62).

The family is of Russian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish ancestry; the patriarch, Yechiel (Ekiel) Bronfman, was originally a tobacco farmer from Bessarabia. According to ''The New York Times'' staff reporter Nathaniel Popper, the Bronfman family is "perhaps the single largest force in the Jewish charitable world."

Family tree

Some of the family members include:

* Abraham Bronfman
** Yechiel (Ekiel) Bronfman (16 Nov 1855, Russia – 24 Dec 1919), 1880 to Mindel Elman (25 May 1863 – 11 Nov 1918)
*** Abe Bronfman (15 Nov 1882, Russia – 1968), m. 1905 to Sophie Rasminsky ( 1967.)
**** Zelia Bronfman
**** Rona Bronfman
**** Mildred Bronfman
**** Beatrice Bronfman
**** Ruth Bronfman
*** Harry Bronfman (20 Mar 1885, Russia – 1963), m. 1905 to Ann Gallaman (d. 1970)
**** Allan Bronfman (1906 – 1944), m. 1931 to Freda Besner
***** Mitchell Bronfman
***** Marion Bronfman
***** Beverly Bronfman
**** Gerald Bronfman
**** Rona Retta Bronfman
*** Laura Bronfman (1 Jan 1887, Russia – 1976), m. 1911 to Barnett Aaron
*** Samuel Miles Bronfman Sr. (1 Mar 1889, onboard ship in Soroki, Bessarabia – 10 Jul 1971, Montreal, QC), m. 20 Jun 1922, Winnipeg, MB, to Saidye Rosner Bronfman (20 Dec 1896, Plum Coulee, MB – 6 Jul 1995, Montreal, QC)
**** Aileen Mindel (Minda) Bronfman (1925 – 1985), m. 1953, Paris, France, to Alain Francois De Gunzburg
**** Phyllis Barbara Bronfman Lambert (1927 – ), m. Jean Lambert
**** Edgar Miles Bronfman, Sr. (1929 – 2013), m. 1953–1973 to Ann Margaret Loeb; m. 1973–1974 to Carolyn Townshend; m. Rita "Georgianna" Eileen Webb (dates unknown); m. 1994 to Jan Aronson.
***** Samuel Bronfman
***** Edgar Miles Bronfman, Jr. (b. 1955), m. 1979–1991 to Sherry Brewer; m. 1993 to Clarisa Alcock San Román
****** Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (b. 1982)
****** Vanessa Sherry Bronfman
****** Hannah Marcina Bronfman (b. 1987)
***** Holly Bronfman
***** Matthew Bronfman
****** Jeremy Bronfman
****** Eli Bronfman
***** Adam Rodgers Bronfman
***** Sara Rosner Bronfman (b. 1976), m. Basit Igtet (b. 1970)
***** Clare Bronfman (b. 1979)
**** Charles Rosner Bronfman, m. Barbara Baerwald; m. 1982–2006 Andrea Brett Morrison (1945 – 2006); m. 2008–2011 to Bonita Roche; m. 2012 to Rita Mayo.
***** Stephen Bronfman
******Coby Bronfman (b. 2005), the fifth son of Matthew Bronfman.
***** Ellen Bronfman
*** Jennie Bronfman (b. 3 Feb 1891, Manitoba, Canada)
*** Bess Bronfman (b. 2 Mar 1893, Manitoba – 1980), m. 1916–1940 to Harry Louis Druxerman (1887–1940); m. 1954–1964 to Harry Soforenko (d. 1964)
**** Alvin Druxerman
**** Jacquelyn Blanche Druxerman
*** Allan Bronfman (2 Jan 1896, Manitoba – 26 Mar 1980, Montreal, QC), m. 28 Jun 1922, Ottawa, ON, to Lucy Bilsky
**** Mona Bronfman (1923 – 1950), m. 1947.
**** Edward Maurice Bronfman (1927 – 2005)
**** Peter Frederick Bronfman (1929 – 1 Dec 1996, Toronto, ON), m. 1976.
***** Bruce Bronfman
***** Linda Bronfman
***** Brenda Bronfman
*** Rose Bronfman (3 Feb 1898, Manitoba – 31 May 1988), m. 24 Jun 1922, Winnipeg, MB, to Maxwell Rady (24 Nov 1899 – 3 Mar 1964)
**** Mindel Rady (married name: Olenick)
**** Marjorie Rady (b. 1929), m. Morley Blankstein
**** Ernest Rady (b. 1937), m. Evelyn

Early history

The name '' Bronfman'' comes from ''Bronfn'', which is Yiddish for the German ''Branntwei''; it coincidently translates to 'spirits man', referring to one who makes or sells whiskey. The Bronfman family in Canada began with tobacco farmer Yechiel Bronfman (aka Ekiel Bronfman; 16 November 1855, Russia – 24 December 1919) and his wife, Mindel (née Elman; 25 May 1863 – 11 Nov 1918), who emigrated from Moldova to Canada with their children in 1889, escaping the anti-Semitic pogroms of Imperial Russia.

In addition to the famed Samuel Bronfman, Yechiel and Mindel's children at the time of emigration included Abe (15 March 1882, Russia – 16 March 1968, Safety Harbor, Florida), Harry (15 March 1886, Russia – 12 November 1963, Montreal,  QC), and Laura Bronfman (1 Jan 1887, Russia – 1976); in total they had 8 children.

The family settled at a homestead near Wapella, Saskatchewan, but soon moved to Brandon, Manitoba. In 1903, the family borrowed money to buy a hotel (the Anglo-American Hotel) in Emerson, Manitoba, which turned out to be profitable due to railway construction. In 1906, the family moved to Winnipeg. With the advent of Prohibition in Canada, Samuel and his brothers turned their energy towards selling mail-order liquor. Following the government's crack-down on the business, the brothers took another route: as it was still legal to sell alcohol as medicine, the brothers rebranded their liquor using names like "Liver & Kidney Cure", "Dandy Bracer–Liver", and "Rock-A-Bye Cough Cure." Samuel took control of the business after prohibition came to an end in the United States, and was known as "Mr. Sam".

Business and philanthropy

According to ''The New York Times'' staff reporter Nathaniel Popper, the Bronfman family is "perhaps the single largest force in the Jewish charitable world." The family owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), who made a fortune in the alcoholic distilled beverage business during American prohibition through founding the Seagram Company, and who later became president of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1939–62).

Saidye Bronfman, Samuel's wife, was president of the Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YWHA) beginning in 1929, and later founded the women’s division of the Combined Jewish Appeal. In 1952, the couple formed The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation to make grants primarily in support of education, the arts, heritage preservation, and Jewish community initiatives. Their daughter, Phyllis Lambert, founded the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

For years, Seagram was run by Samuel and Saidye's sons, Edgar and Charles Bronfman; and their grandson Edgar Bronfman Jr. oversaw the sale of company to Vivendi. Charles was also co-founder of the Historica Foundation of Canada and Heritage Minutes, as well as chairman and principal owner of the Montreal Expos.

The youngest daughter of Edgar Sr., Clare Bronfman, was a benefactor of Keith Raniere and has been sentenced to almost seven years for her role in the NXIVM case. Samuel's nephews Edward and Peter Bronfman (sons of Allan Bronfman), founded Edper Investments (now Brookfield Asset Management).

In 1994, the Bronfman family in collaboration with McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, supported the establishment of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC), a nonpartisan Canadian research institute.

In 1922, Samuel's younger sister, Rose Bronfman (3 February 1898, Manitoba – 31 May 1988), was a substitute teacher and community activist. She married physician Maxwell Rady (born as Avraham Radishkevich, 24 November 1899 – 3 March 1964)—himself a Russian Jewish immigrant, who moved to Manitoba in 1893—and the couple remained notable philanthropists in Winnipeg. The University of Manitoba

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