Saidye Rosner Bronfman (December 9, 1896 – July 6, 1995) was a Canadian-Jewish philanthropist. Her husband,
Samuel Bronfman
Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Bronfman family.
Biography
Samuel Bronfman was born in Otaci, So ...
(1891–1971), founded the
Seagram Company
The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...
and the family took a leading role in the
Canadian-Jewish community.
Early life
Her mother, Priscilla Berger Rosner (1876–1951), was a homemaker who was also an immigrant to Canada from
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
. Saidye married Samuel Bronfman (1891–1971) in 1922 and two years later they moved to Montreal.
[
]
Career and philanthropy
Although Saidye was both born into and married into wealth, she was dedicated to charity. She lived by the principle of '' noblesse oblige.'' Prior to her marriage, Bronfman served as president of the Girls’ Auxiliary of the Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
Jewish Orphanage Society and later headed the Orphans’ Home.
Beginning in 1929, she served as president of the Young Women's Hebrew Association
A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, ...
in Montreal for six years. She was also founder and president of the Combined Jewish Appeal
Federation CJA is a Canadian Jewish organization that raises and distributes funds by facilitating and overseeing the delivery of services and programs.
*
History
Federation CJA is one of the oldest Canadian Jewish organizations. CJA was founde ...
Women’s Division from 1931 to 1933, and in 1934 was one of the founders of Canadian Youth Aliyah.[Jewish Women's Archives; Jewish Women's Encyclopedia: Saidye Rosner Bronfman by Michael Brown]
retrieved April 3, 2012
In 1952, her husband Sam, established The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation
The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation is a private Canadian foundation providing grants to support the community sector. The foundation was established in 1952 as a means by which members of the Bronfman family could combine their philan ...
, one of Canada’s major private granting foundations. The Saidye Bronfman Award
The Saidye Bronfman Award is a Canadian award for fine craft. It is one of the largest individual visual-arts prizes in Canada. The $25,000 annual prize is administered by the Canada Council for the Arts as one of the Governor General’s Awards i ...
was established in 1977 by the foundation to honour her 80th birthday.
This annual award for excellence in the fine crafts is now administered by the Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...
.artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...
was Marion Andre (January 12, 1920 – May 10, 2006, Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
).
Personal life
Saidye Bronfman had four children with her husband:Alain de Gunzburg Alain may refer to:
People
* Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Alain (surname)
* "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein
* Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
, Phyllis Bronfman Lambert, Edgar Miles Bronfman, and Charles Rosner Bronfman
Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion (as of 2021), Bronfman was ranked by ''Forbes'' ...
.
Saidye and Samuel lived mostly in Montreal but spent time in US in the 1950s to 1960s. Their American estate was in Tarrytown, New York. She died in Montreal.[
]
References
External links
Obituary in Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
*
Segal Centre, formerly the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts
Samuel & Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation
The Bronfman Collection - The Canadian Museum of Civilization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronfman, Saidye Rosner
1896 births
1995 deaths
Saidye Rosner Bronfman
Saidye Rosner Bronfman (December 9, 1896 – July 6, 1995) was a Canadian-Jewish philanthropist. Her husband, Samuel Bronfman (1891–1971), founded the Seagram, Seagram Company and the family took a leading role in the History of the Jews in Cana ...
Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent
Jewish Canadian philanthropists
Canadian socialites
People from Winnipeg
20th-century philanthropists