Sigfred Goldschmidt (8 July 1831 – 13 October 1906) was a Jewish

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

businessman.

Early life and education

Goldschmidt was born on 8 July 1831 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 ...

, the son of silk and textile merchant Bendix Meyer Goldschmidt (1791–1874) and Rose Trier (1802–1890). He was educated in L. S. Trier's banking business.

Career

From 1850, Goldschmidt was employed in his maternal uncle Adolph Trier's trading firm (founded 1841). Based out of the cellar at Amagertorv 8, it was still mostly a retail shop although Trier had recently made a move into the wholesale market. Goldschmidt was made a partner in the firm on 1 January 1857 and it was from this on exclusively a wholesale business. Its name was changed to Adolph Trier & Goldschmidt until 1867. Trier & Goldschmidt was one of the first Danish trading houses to avoid the

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

-based intermediaries when trading on other European and overseas markets. It grew to become one of the largest Danish wholesalers of

colonial goods In economics, colonial goods are goods imported from European colonies, in particular coffee, tea, spices, rice, sugar, cocoa and chocolate, and tobacco. At a time when food and agriculture represented a relatively large proportion of overall econo ...

such as sugar, rice, and spices. Goldschmidt headed the firm until the summer of 1904.

Other activities

Goldschmidt was a member of Grosserer-Societetet's committee from 1880 to 1905. He was a specialist judge at the Maritime and Commercial High Court from 1874 to 1902. He was a member of the Board of Deputies of Danish Jews from 1868 to 1882 and was also active on the boards of Copenhagen's two Jewish schools.

Personal life

Goldschmidt married Galathea Meyer (12 June 1835 – 13 April 1874), a daughter of merchant Saul Meyer (1790–1862) and Frederikke Texiére (1809–1861), on 6 December 1857 in Copenhagen. They had three children: Frederikke Sofie Goldschmidt (1862–1863), Georg Goldschmidt (1866–1904) and Victor Albert Goldschmidt (1870–1933). Goldschmidt is one of the businessmen seen in Peder Severin Krøyer's monumental 1888 painting ''

From Copenhagen Stock Exchange ''From Copenhagen Stock Exchange'' () is a monumental 1895 oil on canvas group portrait painting by Peder Severin Krøyer, featuring 50 representatives of the Danish commercial and financial industries gathered in the Great Hall of Børsen (the Ex ...

''. He was created a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1899. He died on 13 October 1906 and is buried in the Jewish Northern Cemetery.

References

External links