Léopold Louis-Dreyfus (5 March 1833 – 9 April 1915) was a French businessman, diplomat, and investor who was best known as the founder of the

Louis Dreyfus Group Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) is a French merchant firm that is involved in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and finance. The company owns and manages hedge funds, Ship management, ocean vessels, develops and operates tele ...

, and

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the Louis-Dreyfus family. The French government awarded him the title

Commander of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in 1912.

Biography

Louis-Dreyfus was born Léopold Dreyfus to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in Sierentz in Alsace in north-eastern France.Funding Universe: "Groupe Louis Dreyfus S.A. History"
Retrieved 16 August 2013
31 January 2012 His parents were Louis Lemlé Dreyfus (1798–1879), a farmer, and Jeannette Victoire (''née'' Hildenfinger; 1803–1837).

Business

As a youth, the younger Dreyfus made frequent trips to nearby

Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...

, delivering grain for sale from the family farm. In 1851, he began trading wheat from neighbouring farms. He founded a company under his father's name, as he was too young to use his own.Louis Dreyfus Commodities website: "Key eras in our history"
retrieved 16 August 2013 The younger Dreyfus later changed his surname to Louis-Dreyfus, but kept the company name without the hyphen. In 1858, after rapid growth, he moved the company to Berne, Switzerland, where it expanded its operations throughout Europe by purchasing grain from the "

breadbasket The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other grain. Rice bowl is a similar term used to refer to Southeast Asia; Calif ...

s" of Eastern Europe and transporting it to the hungry markets in Western Europe. In 1864, the company moved to Zurich, Switzerland and in 1872, after the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

when France ceded Alsace to Germany, Louis Dreyfus chose French citizenship. He moved to the shipping port of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and by 1875 had moved his company's headquarters to Paris. The development of a transcontinental railroad in Europe combined with a more reliable shipping network and better access to market information – after the development of the telegraph and telephone – enabled the Louis Dreyfus Group to grow rapidly via

arbitrage Arbitrage (, ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more marketsstriking a combination of matching deals to capitalize on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which th ...

: the taking advantage of price differentials between locations. In 1883, the Louis Dreyfus Group was one of the first companies to engage in

futures trading In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

at the Liverpool Corn Trade Association, allowing it to both buy and sell commodities simultaneously. By 1900, the Louis Dreyfus Group was the world's largest grain trader. In 1905, the Banque Louis-Dreyfus was founded to help finance the company's operations in grain markets. Thereafter, the company expanded internationally: in 1909, it opened an office in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

and began exporting

durum Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it repres ...

wheat; in 1911, it started trading cotton in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

; and in 1913, it set up operations in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. In 1915 Léopold Louis-Dreyfus died, turning over the family company to sons Louis and Charles.

Personal life

In 1860, Léopold Louis-Dreyfus married Émilie Lang (1840–1918), daughter of Isaac Lang and Rosalie (''née'' Aron) Lang. They had three sons: Louis Louis-Dreyfus (1867–1940),

Charles Louis-Dreyfus Charles Louis-Dreyfus (August 21, 1870 – July 30, 1929) was a co-director of the commodity distribution and trading company, Louis Dreyfus Group. Biography Louis-Dreyfus was born in Zurich to a Jewish family, the middle of three sons of Léop ...

(1870–1929), and Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1877–1907). He is the great-great-grandfather of American actress and comedian

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( ; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. She has gained acclaim for starring in a string of successful comedy series as well as several comedy films. She has received List of awards ...

. By the early 20th century, the Louis-Dreyfus family was described as one of the "five great fortunes of France".''Buried by the Times: The Holocaust And America's Most Important Newspaper'', Laurel Leff, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 81 Louis-Dreyfus also served as Consul-General for the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

in Paris. He was awarded the title of

() on 19 April 1912.

Legacy

Léopold Louis-Dreyfus died in 1915 and was succeeded at the

by his sons Louis and Charles, who expanded the company in the Americas and in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(prior to the 1917 Revolution). In 2013, the Louis Dreyfus Group is considered to be one of the "big four" global food trading companies in the world, competing with

Archer Daniels Midland The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 p ...

Bunge Limited Bunge Global SA (''BUN-ghee'') is a global agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As well as being an international soybean exporter, it is also involved in f ...

, and Cargill Inc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis-Dreyfus, Pierre 1833 births 1915 deaths 19th-century French businesspeople 19th-century French Jews Alsatian Jews Commanders of the Legion of Honour French diplomats French investors

Léopold Louis-Dreyfus Léopold Louis-Dreyfus (5 March 1833 – 9 April 1915) was a French businessman, diplomat, and investor who was best known as the founder of the Louis Dreyfus Group, and patriarch of the Louis-Dreyfus family. The French government awarded him t ...

Diplomats for Romania