Julius Augustus Fleischmann (June 8, 1871 – February 5, 1925) was an American businessman, the long-time president of
Fleischmann's Yeast, and a former
mayor of Cincinnati
The Mayor of Cincinnati is recognised as the official head and representative of the city for all purposes. There have been seventy-six mayors of Cincinnati, the first of which being David Ziegler in 1802. The current mayor is Aftab Pureval, w ...
. A bon vivant, sailor, and sportsman,
he was the son of
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...
magnate
Charles Louis Fleischmann
Charles Louis Fleischmann (November 3, 1835 – December 10, 1897) was a Hungarian-American manufacturer of yeast who founded Fleischmann Yeast Company.
In the late 1860s, he and his brother Maximilian created America’s first commercially ...
.
Biography
Fleischmann was born in Cincinnati to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
-born,
Hungarian-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
man, Charles Louis Fleischmann and his
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n-born wife Henriette Robertson.
Julius left college to become general manager of
Fleischmann's Yeast in 1894 when he was 22 years old. He became president of the company in 1897, overseeing the company's expansion.
Among the many interests of the Fleischmann family was baseball. In 1898, Fleischman financed the
semiprofessional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consi ...
baseball team, the
Cincinnati Shamrocks,
which included the future
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
manager
Miller Huggins
Miller James Huggins (March 27, 1878 – September 25, 1929) was an American professional baseball player and manager. Huggins played second base for the Cincinnati Reds (1904–1909) and St. Louis Cardinals (1910–1916). He managed the ...
.
In 1900, Huggins played for Fleischmann's semiprofessional team based in the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
, the Mountain Tourists.
[ In 1903 Fleischmann was part of a syndicate the purchased the ]Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
. Julius Fleischmann was also involved in thoroughbred horses
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...
, along with his father and his brother Max, under the name Charles Fleischmann and Sons.
He became Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
's youngest mayor in 1900 aged 28. He was re-elected once, and served until 1905. Under his mayorship, Cincinnati's police force became known as one of the best in the nation. As mayor, Fleischmann promoted education, created public parks, and supported continued investment in local railroad lines. A staunch Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, Fleischmann later served three times as a delegate
Delegate or delegates may refer to:
* Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia
* Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique
* Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations
* Delegate (United ...
to the Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
.
In May 1914, Fleischmann gave Fleischmanns Park to the village of Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2010 census. The Village of Fleischmanns is within the town of Middletown and is named after Charles Louis Fleischmann, a Hungarian manufactu ...
. The park, which dominated the north side of Wagner Avenue in Fleischmanns, was formerly known as the Mountain Athletic Club. It was where the town's semiprofessional baseball players came to get in shape before the start of the regular season. (One of the town's players was the future Hall of Famer
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
Honus Wagner
Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...
.) Stipulations of Julius' gift were that it always be used as a park and athletic grounds, that it always be kept in good condition, that it never be sold or sublet, and always be of free access to the public.
Fleischmann was initiated as a national honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
fraternity in 1914.
He died of heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
on February 5, 1925, while playing polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
in Miami.
Personal life and family
Fleischmann was married two times, to Lily Ackerland from 1893 to 1920, with whom he had three children; Laura G. Hemingway from 1920 −1924.
His son Julius Fleischmann, Jr.
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician (ancient Rome), patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Roman Republic, Republic ...
(1900–1968)["Julius Fleischmann Dies at 68; Stage Producer and Art Patron,"]
''The New York Times'' (October 24, 1968). was among other things a philanthropist who founded World Art, Inc. (directed by Serge Denham Serge may refer to:
*Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric
*Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme
*Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name)
*Serge (post), a hitchi ...
), an organization devoted to sponsoring cultural organizations. In 1937, World Art financed the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its a ...
, which launched its first season in 1938.
His daughter, Mrs. Henry C. Yeiser, took out a then-record $3.25 million insurance policy against her inheritance.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischmann, Julius
1871 births
1925 deaths
Mayors of Cincinnati
American people of Prussian descent
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Ohio Republicans
Philadelphia Phillies owners