Charles Louis-Dreyfus (August 21, 1870 – July 30, 1929) was a co-director of the commodity distribution and trading company,

Louis Dreyfus Group Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC), also called the Louis-Dreyfus Group, is a French merchant firm that is involved in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and finance. The company owns and manages hedge funds, ocean vessels, dev ...

Biography

Louis-Dreyfus was born in Zurich to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the middle of three sons of

Léopold Louis-Dreyfus Léopold Louis-Dreyfus (5 March 1833 – 9 April 1915) was a French businessman, diplomat, and investor who was best known as the founder of the Louis Dreyfus Group, and patriarch of the Louis-Dreyfus family. The French government awarded him t ...

(1833–1915) and Emilie Lang (1840–1918).The Cyclopedia of India: biographical, historical, administrative, commercial
retrieved August 16, 2013 His brothers were Louis Louis-Dreyfus (1867–1940) and Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1877–1907). In 1851, his father, the son of a farmer from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, founded the commodity distributor and trader

growing the business to the point that in 1900, it was the world's largest grain distributor.Funding Universe: "Groupe Louis Dreyfus S.A. History"
retrieved August 16, 2013 In 1915, his father died turning over the family company to sons Louis and Charles who served as co-Directors. In 1917, the Louis Dreyfus Group was forced out of Russia by the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

catalyzing their international expansion.Callil, By Carmen
Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family, Fatherland and Vichy France
/ref> During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the firm expanded into the maritime arms trade supplying the belligerents to war. In 1924, they expanded to South Africa and in the 20s and 30s built up their own shipping company,

LD Lines LD Lines was a French shipping company, with both roro freight and passenger ferry operations. It was a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), which engages in building, owning, operating, and managing vessels. LD Lines operated fer ...

. Known as the "King of Wheat," the Dreyfus Group dominated the

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

through the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and up to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

purchasing grain at low cost in producing countries and selling at a higher price in countries that had shortages. Louis-Dreyfus and his brother were shareholders in the French Communist paper ''

l'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

.'' The

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

was bestowed on him by the French government in 1923.

Death

Louis-Dreyfus died at his home in the Paris suburb of

Ville-d'Avray Ville-d'Avray () is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. The commune is part of the arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine Department ...

on July 30, 1929.Brisbane Courier - August 2, 1929, Page 19
Trove

Personal life

In 1904 he married Sarah Germaine Hément (1882-1964); they had four children: Eliane Heilbronn (1906–1995),

Pierre Louis-Dreyfus Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (17 May 1908 – 15 January 2011) was a French Resistance fighter during World War II who later served as CEO of the Louis Dreyfus Cie. Early life and education Pierre Louis-Dreyfus was born on 17 May 1908 in Paris, one of ...

(1908–2011), François Louis-Dreyfus (1909–1958), and Arlette Louis-Dreyfus (1911–2001). After Louis-Dreyfus's death in 1929, his brother Louis took over the family company.LD Commodites website: "Our heritage"
retrieved August 17, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis-Dreyfus, Charles 1870 births 1929 deaths Swiss Jews Charles Louis-Dreyfus 20th-century French businesspeople Swiss emigrants to France