Marcus Ruben Henriques, commonly known as Martin (R.) Henriques (26 December 1825 – 25 June 1912) was a Jewish-Danish businessman. He was the father of the musician and editor Robert Henriques and the painter

Marie Henriques Marie Henriques (26 June 1866 – 12 January 1944) was a Danish painter who created landscapes, figure paintings and portraits, initially in the Realist style but increasingly under the influence of Impressionism. She also painted watercolours of ...

Early life and career

Martin Henriques was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

as one of 18 children of the wealthy banker Ruben Henriques and his second wife Jeruchim-Jorika Henriques. His father had founded the

brokerage firm A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

R. Henriques jr. in 1801. Martin Henriques and his brother Aron Henriques took over the company in 1851. The company was based on

Amagertorv Amagertorv (English: Amager Square), today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, is often described as the most central square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is also one of the oldest, taking its name from the Amage ...

Family and property

Henriques married Therese Abrahamson in November 1854, the daughter of Salomon Abrahamson, a Jewish merchant in

Rødby Rødby is a town, with a population of 1,983 (1 January 2022),Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

. Her wealthy maternal aunt had brought her to Copenhagen at an early age. She was a talented pianist. The couple had five children. Four of them, the daughters Anna and Fernanda and sons Robert and Edmond, were born within a period of just four and a half years. The daughter

was born six years later. The family initially lived at

17. In 1865, Henriques and Hirschsprung purchased the property at Tordenskjoldsgade 1 in the fashionable new

Gammelholm Gammelholm ( lit. "Old Islet") is a predominantly residential neighbourhood in the city centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is bounded by the Nyhavn canal, Kongens Nytorv, Holmens Kanal, Niels Juels Gade and the waterfront along Havnegade. For cen ...

neighbourhood. The Henriques family lived on the first floor while the Hirschsprung family lived on the second floor. Henriques was also the owner of the country house Petershøj in

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an affluent area with many ...

, north of Copenhagen.

Cultural associations

Many prominent cultural figures frequented the Henriques home at Gammelholm. The family was particularly fond of music and their guests included the ballet master

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nep ...

and the composers Niels W. Gade, J. P. E. Hartmann and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

. The painter

Carl Bloch Carl Heinrich Bloch (23 May 1834 – 22 February 1890) was a Danish artist. Biography He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and studied there at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi'') under Wilhelm Marstrand ...

was another frequent guest and many of his paintings hang on the walls. The family was also among the closest friends of the writer

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

who had been introduced to the family by Bournonville. Martin Henriques' sister Dorothea Melchior (1823-1885) and her husband Moritz G. Melchior were also among Andersen's closest friends.

References

External links

Martin Henriques
at geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Henriques, Martin 19th-century Danish businesspeople Businesspeople from Copenhagen Henriques family (Denmark) Danish Jews 1825 births 1912 deaths