Marcel Adams (2 August 1920 – 11 August 2020) was a Canadian real estate investor, billionaire, and

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor.Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Marcel Adams
April 2017

Biography

Marcel Abramovich (later Adams) 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 in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in 1920. His father was a tanner.The Press Reader: "Billionaire Marcel Adams Cultivates Israeli Brainpower"
May 2, 2010 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 was forced to work in Nazi labor camps (1941-1944). He escaped and fled first to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and then to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

where he fought for the independence of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 1951, he immigrated to Canada where he worked at a Quebec City tannery. In 1955, he began investing in real estate making a 70% profit on his first building. In 1958, he founded Iberville Developments and in 1959, he opened his first mall. Adams was retired and his son,

Sylvan Adams Sylvan Adams ( he, סילבן אדמס; born November 1, 1958) is an Israeli-Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Background and career Adams was born and raised in Quebec City, Canada. He served for close to 25 years as presid ...

, operated the company for almost 25 years, before being succeeded by his own son, Josh. As of 2017, Iberville owns and manages a diverse portfolio of over 100 properties consisting of eight million square feet.

Personal life

In 1953, he married Annie Adams; they had four children: Julian,

Sylvan Sylvan or Sylvans (from the Latin ''silva'': "forest, woods") may refer to: Places United States * Sylvan, Illinois, a former settlement * Sylvan, Wisconsin, a town ** Sylvan (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated area in the town * Sylvan ...

, Linda, and Leora. His son Julian is a biochemist who led a team that developed the drug

Velcade Bortezomib, sold under the brand name Velcade among others, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. This includes multiple myeloma in those who have and have not previously received treatment. It is ...

; his son Sylvan runs Iberville; his daughter Linda is a lawyer married to commentator

Gil Troy Gil Troy (born 1961) is an American presidential historian and a popular commentator on politics and other issues. He is a professor of history at McGill University. Troy is the author of nine books, and the editor of two. He writes a column for '' ...

; and his daughter Leora is a nurse. Annie died in November 1997. Adams died on August 11, 2020.

Biography

Personal life

References

Further reading