Maurice Gusman (born 1889 - died April 4, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American millionaire investor and philanthropist. Born in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

into a Jewish family, Gusman immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 alone. Gusman began working at the age of 13 to save money for his ticket to the United States and never had a formal education. Gusman arrived in New York through

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

and spent several years in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, working at a drugstore. Within three years of arrival to the United States, he opened his own store but lost it in the financial crisis of 1907. He moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

to open another store and made millions in the rubber industry Gusman became a millionaire by the age of 32. In 1947, he moved to Miami with his family and began his real estate investment and development. In 1948, Gusman purchased the Olympia Theater, renovated it and gave it to the

City of Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

in 1975. He donated $2.5 mln to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

for the building of the concert hall that opened on January 31, 1975 at the

Frost School of Music Frost School of Music is the music school at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. From 1926 to 2003, it was known as University of Miami School of Music. Academics and programs The University of Miami's Frost School of Music was on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gusman, Maurice 1889 births 1980 deaths American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States