Samuel David Leidesdorf (1881-1968) was an American
accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...
who was posthumously inducted into the
CPA Hall of Fame.
Biography
Leidesdorf was born on September 25, 1881, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He attended the
New York School of Accounting and
Pace College
Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...
. In 1905, he began his own accounting firm, S.D. Leidesdorf & Co.,
certified public accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...
s, which grew and eventually became one of the largest accounting firms in the nation. The 1915 New York City Directory shows him living at 302 West 79th and with the S.D. Leidesdorf Co office at 417 5th Avenue. His World War I Draft Registration Card shows he had moved to 309 W 86th. In 1929, he helped arrange the sale of
Newark-based Bamberger's
Bamberger's was a department store chain with branches primarily in New Jersey and other locations in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The chain was headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.
History 1892–1912
Newark was known for ma ...
department store, to the
R.H. Macy Co. ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
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* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' recognized his company as a “Pioneering Firm” in 1932.
In 1931 he was on the executive committee of the
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
. He served on the
State Council of Accountancy, from 1934 to 1942. When
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
arrived in the US, Leidesdorf was his accountant. He soon began dedicating himself to what would become a lifetime of philanthropic endeavors for medical and educational institutions, and many other charitable causes, including the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
, the
United Jewish Appeal
The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...
, the
Young Women's Christian Association
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
and the
United Negro College Fund
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...
. "In a letter written to Mr. S. D. Leidesdorf of New York,
Rockefeller Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to:
People with the name Rockefeller fa ...
solicited Leidesdorf to serve as a member of the Foundation Committee of the UNCF, working with W. D. Embree, the Chairman."
''The early years of the United Negro College Fund, 1943-1960''. Shuana K. Tucker. The Journal of African American History (Fall 2002): p416(17).
/ref>
Leidesdorf was active in civic and community service and received numerous honors and awards, including an honorary degree as doctor of humane letters from Hebrew Union College
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, the Medal of the National Fund for Medical Education, the Herbert H. Lehman Human Relations Award of the American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
and the Medal for Distinguished Service from the Protestant Council of the City of New York. In 1958, Leidesdorf received The Hundred Year Association of New York
The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City that recognizes and rewards dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the ...
's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." He was a founding Trustee for the Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
.
In 1948, Leidesdorf began his tenure on the board of the New York University Medical Center
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and m ...
serving as the first Chair of the Building Committee. Later he served as the Chair of the board from 1956 until his death on September 21, 1968.
He was chairman of the board of NYU Medical Center
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and m ...
from 1956 to 1968. At the time of his death in 1968, the firm he founded was in the top 10 of accounting firms in the United States. The company he started merged to become Ernst & Whinney
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
in 1979 and Ernst and Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
in 1989.
With his wife Elsa Grunwald, he had two children Helen and Arthur (1918–91).
Notes
Resources
Hall of Fame induction
IAS site
*1930 US Federal Census
*Social Security Death Index
OneWorldTree
*World War I Draft Registration Card, published by ancestry.com
Further reading
*Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 4: September, 1955-August, 1958. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1960. (BioIn 4)
*Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 8: September, 1967-August, 1970. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1971. (BioIn 8)
*Who Was Who in America. Volume 5, 1969-1973. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1973. (WhAm 5)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leidesdorf, Samuel D.
American accountants
1881 births
1968 deaths
Pace University alumni
American Jews
Businesspeople from New York City
20th-century American businesspeople
American Jewish Committee