Zanvyl Krieger (April 1, 1906 – September 15, 2000) was an American businessman and philanthropist in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. He was best known for his philanthropy, including major donations to the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and the

Kennedy Krieger Institute The Kennedy Krieger Institute () is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, Johns Hopkins affiliate located in Baltimore, Maryland, that provides in-patient and out-patient medical care, community services, and school based programs for children and ...

. Krieger amassed his fortune through an investment in U.S. Surgical Corp, which manufactured

surgical staple Surgical staples are specialized staples used in surgery in place of sutures to close skin wounds or connect or remove parts of the bowels or lungs. The use of staples over sutures reduces the local inflammatory response, width of the wound, a ...

Early life

The youngest of eight children, Zanvyl Krieger was born in Baltimore in 1906 to wealthy Jewish

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

sellers and distributors Herman and Bettie Farber Krieger. Owners of the Gunther Brewery and the largest distillery of rye whiskey in the country, his parents were very successful in business. Herman Krieger died when Zanvyl was just four. For high school, he attended

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

. After graduating high school, he attended the Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated in 1928 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He subsequently attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, joining the law firm of Weinberg and Sweeten after his graduation in 1931.

Business career

Krieger was a longtime lawyer at the firm Weinberg and Sweeten, staying with the firm from 1931 until his retirement in the 1990s. He was also an extremely successful businessman. He amassed his fortune through an investment in U.S. Surgical Corp. in 1964. The company brought a surgical incision stapling device developed in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to the United States.

Philanthropy

Krieger was best known for his philanthropy. After amassing a large fortune, Krieger started donating his wealth to charities in the 1970s. He was a benefactor to the Kennedy Krieger Institute,

Jewish Museum of Maryland The Jewish Museum of Maryland is located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The museum tells the story of the American Jewish experience in the city of Baltimore and throughout the US state of Maryland. Description The museum is one of the c ...

, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore,

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

, Krieger Schechter Day School,

American Visionary Art Museum The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is an art museum located in Baltimore, Maryland's Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs fro ...

, Sinai Krieger Eye Institute at Sinai Hospital, Krieger Children's Eye Center at the Wilmer Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and

Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences The Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences is an academic division of the Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. The school is located on the university's Homewood campus. It is the core of Johns Hopkins ...

. Krieger started the Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund to dispense his charitable money in 1978. Of his charitable works, Krieger said, "I did it because it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to benefit others. I think the basis of life is satisfaction. We all do things to satisfy ourselves. If you have money, you might as well be able to enjoy it. I enjoy giving." Perhaps his best known charitable contribution was a $50 million challenge grant to the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences in 1992. It is one of the largest donations to a school of arts and sciences in the United States. The school was renamed in his honor after the donation.

Baltimore sports

Krieger was a major investor in Baltimore sports, including the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

and

Baltimore Clippers The Baltimore Clippers were a minor league professional ice hockey team from in Baltimore, Maryland, playing in the Baltimore Civic Center. The Clippers were members of the American Hockey League from 1962 to 1976, and then played one season in ...

. He was a force in keeping the Colts franchise in Baltimore in 1952, but he later sold his stock to

Carroll Rosenbloom Dale Carroll Rosenbloom (March 5, 1907 – April 2, 1979) was an American businessman. He was the owner of two National Football League franchises; he was the first owner of the Baltimore Colts, and later switched teams, taking ownership of the ...

. He regretted the decision when

Robert Irsay Robert Irsay (March 5, 1923 – January 14, 1997) was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise from 1972 until his death in 1997. Early life and education Irsay ...

moved the Colts to Indianapolis in 1984. Krieger later said, "When Irsay took the Colts, I was crushed. I felt I had lost my longtime friend. I felt I had given birth to something only to have this rascal come in and take it away. And the way he did it...it is something you never get over. Never." In 1966, Krieger was named as lead of a Baltimore group awarded an alternate

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

franchise that would come about if ownership for the conditional St. Louis franchise could not be found. He sold his Orioles shares to Edward Bennett Williams in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krieger, Zanvyl 1906 births 2000 deaths Johns Hopkins University alumni American philanthropists Harvard Law School alumni Businesspeople from Baltimore 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews