Heinrich-Hartmut Richard Gustav "Henry" Arnhold (September 15, 1921 – August 23, 2018) was an American banker and philanthropist. He was born in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, the fourth child of Lisa and
Heinrich Arnhold. The Arnhold family owned
Arnhold Brothers, one of Germany's largest private banks, founded in 1864. In 1931 the bank joined with
S. Bleichröder to form
Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder was a New York-based investment bank that remained as a fund management company under the control of the Kellen and Arnhold families until December 2015, when majority ownership was sold to the Blackstone Group LP and Cor ...
.
Arnhold escaped
German-occupied Norway
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...
for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1941. There, during
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 ...
, he served in that country's
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
intelligence as one of the
Ritchie Boys
The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...
. After the war he joined the family's now New York-based Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder; he became its non executive chairman in the 1970s after the death of its founder, and his uncle Hans Arnhold. In 1967 he invested in the fund created by
George Soros
George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
.
Philanthropy
Arnhold endowed
The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
's library (called the Arnhold Forum) and the university's Arnhold Hall. He and his wife donated some of their collection of
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
to the
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...
. After his brother Rainer died he took over the leadership of the
Mulago Foundation
The Mulago Foundation is a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy: investing in charities and philanthropic opportunities that have the highest impact. The foundation was originally envisioned by Rainer Arnhold, a San Francisco pe ...
, started by Rainer. Arnhold also made significant contributions to the city of
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
.
Family
In 1947, Arnhold married Clarisse Engel de Janosi. In addition to their son John, they had a daughter Michele (called Shelly) who died in 2007.
In addition to his brother Ranier, he had three sisters, Esther, Ruth and Sigrid; Esther's son is the conservationist
Peter Seligmann
Peter A. Seligmann (born September 30, 1950) is an American conservationist and nonprofit founder. Seligmann is chairman of Conservation International, an Arlington, Virginia-based environmental nonprofit organization, and from 1987 to 2017 served ...
.
References
1921 births
2018 deaths
Businesspeople from Dresden
American bankers
Immigrants to the United States
Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony
People who emigrated to escape Nazism
Ritchie Boys
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