Jesse Shwayder (March 26, 1882 - July 25, 1970) was an American businessman. He was the founder, president and chairman of the Samsonite Corporation, "the world's largest luggage manufacturer" by the time of his death.

Early life

Shwayder was born on March 16, 1882, in

Black Hawk, Colorado Black Hawk is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census, making Black Hawk the least populous city (rather than town) in Colorado. The tiny city is a ...

. He was of Polish-Jewish descent. His father, Isaac, owned a grocery store followed by a furniture store in Denver, where Shwayder worked as a teenager.

Career

Shwayder began his career as a salesman for the Seward Trunk Co. in New York City. Shwayer founded the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company in Denver in 1910. He served as its president from 1910 to 1960, and later served as its chairman. The company introduced a new suitcase called Samsonite in 1939, and it changed its name to the Samsonite Corporation in 1965. Shwayder was inducted into the

Colorado Business Hall of Fame Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

posthumously, in 1991.

Personal life and death

Shwayder married Nellie Weitz. They had a son and four daughters. Shwayder died on July 25, 1970, in Denver, at age 88. By the time of his death, Samsonite had become "the world's largest luggage manufacturer."

References

1882 births 1970 deaths American people of Polish-Jewish descent People from Gilpin County, Colorado Businesspeople from Denver American company founders American chairpersons of corporations 20th-century American businesspeople {{Colorado-stub