Cyril Isaac Magnin (July 6, 1899 – June 9, 1988) was an American businessman from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was the chief executive of the

Joseph Magnin Co. The Joseph Magnin Company was a high-end specialty department store founded in San Francisco, California, by Joseph Magnin, 4th son of Isaac Magnin founder of the I. Magnin department store. Joseph Magnin Co. and I. Magnin Co. were rivals. Histo ...

Early life

Cyril Isaac Magnin was born 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 on July 6, 1899 in China.Katherine Bishop
Cyril Issac Magnin, 88, Ex-Head Of Store Chain and Patron of Arts
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', June 9, 1988Mark A. Stein
Revolutionized Clothing Business : Cyril Isaac Magnin, 88; Called 'Mr. San Francisco'
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', June 9, 1988 His father, Joseph Magnin, was the founder of specialty department store

His mother was Charlotte (Davis) Magnin. His paternal grandfather,

Isaac Magnin Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, Carving, carver and Gilding, gilder. He was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California. Early life Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was ...

, was a Dutch-born frame carver and gilder. His paternal grandmother,

Mary Ann Magnin Mary Ann Magnin (1850–1943) was a Dutch-American businesswoman. She was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale "specialty store" in San Francisco, California. Early life Mary Ann Cohen was born in 1850 in Scheveningen, The Hague, the Netherlan ...

, was the founder of

I. Magnin I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...

, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco. His cousin,

Edgar Magnin Edgar Magnin (July 1, 1890 – July 17, 1984) was rabbi and spiritual leader of Wilshire Boulevard Temple (previously Congregation B'nai B'rith), the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Magnin served at the temple for 69 yea ...

, was the rabbi of the

Wilshire Boulevard Temple Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple's main building, with a sanctuary topped by a large Byzantine revival dome an ...

, a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

congregation. He was educated at Lowell High School. He then graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he went on to receive a law degree.

Career

He served as the president of

from 1940 to 1952. He then served as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1952 to 1970. It evolved into a multimillion-dollar chain, selling fashion for young women. He served as general partner and chairman of Cyril Magnin Investments Ltd. as well as chairman of Lilli Ann Corp. He also served as president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Philanthropy

He was president of the Port of San Francisco and was instrumental in establishing such internationally renowned institutions as the Asian Art Museum, the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The Ameri ...

and the

California Culinary Academy The California Culinary Academy (CCA) was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu located in San Francisco, California. Danielle Carlisle established the school in 1977 to train chefs using the European education model. The origina ...

, serving as head of the California Museums Foundation. He served on the board of directors of the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

. Additionally, he served as the head of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

for two terms. He was also a fundraiser for the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

and the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

. He served as the "Chief of Protocol" for the City of San Francisco from 1964 to 1988. As a result, he was nicknamed "Mr. San Francisco" by columnist

Herb Caen Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuous love let ...

. He appeared in the films '' Foul Play'', as Pope Pius XIII, and ''

Maxie Maxie is a given name, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name * Max Baer (boxer) (1909–1959), American world champion heavyweight boxer, nicknamed "Madcap Maxie" * Max Maxie Anderson (1934–1983), American hot air balloo ...

'', as Mr. San Francisco. He published his autobiography, ''Call Me Cyril'', in 1981. He was awarded the

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It condu ...

medal in 1977.

Political advocacy

Magnin was a veteran political fund-raiser and power broker in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He was treasurer of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's northern California re-election campaign in 1944, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1948 (which nominated President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

) and again in 1964, when he co-chaired the Finance Committee of President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's campaign in California. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Magnin was one of a quartet of wealthy San Francisco Jewish contributors to Democratic candidates, appreciatively called "The Green Machine" by career politicians, the others being the Fairmont Hotel magnate

Benjamin Swig Benjamin Harrison Swig (born November 17, 1893 - October 31, 1980) was a real estate developer and a philanthropist active in Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Biography Taunton, Massachusetts-born Benjamin Swig was the son of banker and poli ...

Lilli Ann Lilli Ann was a clothing company that was started in San Francisco, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it ...

clothing company founder

Adolph Schuman Adolph P. Schuman (1902–1985) was a prominent San Francisco businessman. He was the founder and president of the Lilli Ann apparel company, and a longtime Democratic Party campaign contributor who had close ties to John F. Kennedy and Robert F. K ...

, and real estate mogul

Walter Shorenstein Walter H. Shorenstein (February 15, 1915 – June 24, 2010)Dennis McLellan (June 26, 2010)"Walter H. Shorenstein dies at 95; Democratic Party fundraiser and San Francisco real estate mogul" ''Los Angeles Times''. was an American billionaire re ...

. The four did not always agree in their choice of candidates. Magnin himself was a major donor to the presidential candidacies of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

in 1960 and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

in 1968, and, in the interim, developed a close friendship with Lyndon Johnson.Cyril Magnin and Cynthia Robins. ''Call Me Cyril'' (New York, 1981); Bernice Scharlach. ''Dealing From the Heart, A Biography of Benjamin Swig'' (San Francisco, 2000)

Personal life and death

He was married to Anna (Smithline) Magnin, who died in 1948. They had two sons and a daughter: Donald I. Magnin, Jerry A. Magnin and Ellen Magnin Newman. He remarried to Lillian Ryan Helwig in 1951, only to divorce a decade later, in 1961. He identified as a non-practising Jew. He died on June 9, 1988. The two-block stretch of Fifth Street North, north of

Market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

and adjacent to

Hallidie Plaza Hallidie Plaza is a public square located at the entrance to Powell Street Station (the third-busiest BART station as of 2015) on Market Street in the Union Square area of downtown San Francisco, California, United States. Hallidie Plaza was desig ...

, was renamed Cyril Magnin Street in his honor.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnin, Cyril 1988 deaths 1899 births University of California, Berkeley alumni Businesspeople from San Francisco Philanthropists from California Jewish American philanthropists American people of Dutch-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American retail chief executives UC Berkeley School of Law alumni 20th-century American philanthropists Magnin family Lowell High School (San Francisco) alumni