Alexander Jarmulowsky (1840-1912), better known as Sender Jarmulowsky, was a Russian Jewish banker who founded the Jarmulowsky Bank on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

of New York in 1873.

Life

Jarmulowsky was born in the town of

Grajewo Grajewo (; ) is a town in north-eastern Poland with 21,499 inhabitants (2016). It is the capital of Grajewo County within the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located within the historic region of Masovia, near the border with Podlachia and Masuria. H ...

, Russia (present-day Poland), in 1840 to Moszko Jarmulowsky and Fejga Zeligson. He was orphaned at a young age and then raised by the Rabbi of Werblow. He later attended the Volozhin Yeshiva and was ordained as a rabbi. Jarmulowsky moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 1868 and started a shipping business selling ship tickets. He moved to New York City in 1873, where he opened his own bank at

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and

Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...

. Located in the Lower East Side, Jarmulowsky's bank advertised itself to newly arrived immigrants (primarily Eastern European Jews) who were ignored by larger banking institutions in the city. As well as providing bank accounts and loans, Jarmulowsky's bank built on his business background in Hamburg by allowing immigrants to purchase steamship tickets for their relatives back in Europe. In addition to his business activities, Jarmulowsky also served as the first president of the

Eldridge Street Synagogue The Eldridge Street Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 12–16 Eldridge Street in the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1887 for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun, the synagogue ...

, during which he helped raise the money to construct its 1887 building. He served as one of the twenty-five members of the New York Kehillah (Jewish Community) executive board, representing the interests of Eastern European Jews. Jarmulowsky's bank was successful enough that he was able to construct a new bank building (the Jarmulowsky Bank Building) in 1912. Although his business and clients were based in the Lower East Side, Jarmulowsky moved uptown in 1889 to East 60th Street, and later moved to 16 East 93rd Street on the Upper East Side, living near the Felix Warburg mansion (present day site of the

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Legacy

In his memoirs, Louis Lipsky testified to the high regard for Jarmulowsky among Eastern European Jews in New York, writing that "so far as armulowsky'simmortality is concerned , he remains in the memory of thousands of American Jews as the man who freed them on the soil of the United States". After Jarmulowsky's death in 1912, he left an estate valued around $500,000, a lower sum than had been assumed. The Bank was entrusted to his sons Meyer and Louis Jarmulowsky. During World War I, in 1917, customers attempted to withdraw money to send overseas to their relatives. The bank lacked the necessary funds, since its finances had been invested in Harlem real estate. (As part of his real estate investments, Meyer had funded the construction of Harlem's Lafayette Theater in 1912). After an ensuing riot, Meyer and Louis were indicted for banking fraud and the Jarmulowsky Bank was closed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarmulowsky, Sender 1840 births 1912 deaths Bankers from the Russian Empire Jewish American bankers American bankers Emigrants from the Russian Empire Immigrants to the United States Bankers from New York City Volozhin Yeshiva alumni