Bernard Rapoport
| Bernard Rapoport | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Bernard Rapoport July 17, 1917 San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| Died | April 5, 2012 (aged 94) Waco, Texas, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bachelor's degree |
| Alma mater | The University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation |
Founder of American Income Life Insurance Company Founder of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation |
Bernard Rapoport (July 17, 1917 – April 5, 2012) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, and the founder of American Income Life Insurance Company. He worked for the advancement of human rights, education, and literacy.
Rapoport was born in San Antonio, Texas. His father, David Rapoport, and mother, Riva Feldman, immigrated to the United States from Russia in the early 1900s. Rapoport’s upbringing was very modest, and his father peddled blankets on the streets of San Antonio.
Rapoport grew up during the Great Depression, and times for his family proved to be very hard. When Rapoport was 6 years old, his family was evicted from their home, and they continued to face financial difficulties through the Depression. Yet, throughout his youth, Rapoport felt they had much to be grateful for, including books and music.
Rapoport valued his education, and worked his way through college at a jewelry store. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in 1939. Rapoport met Audre Newman in January 1942, and they soon married. The couple lived in Wichita Falls, Texas, where Rapoport continued his work in jewelry sales. Rapoport was also a founding father of the Gamma Deuteron Chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity in 1939 at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is an esteemed alumnus.
In 1949, the couple moved to San Antonio, and Rapoport began his career selling insurance with Pioneer American Insurance. He realized that he had a talent for selling insurance. By the end of 1949, he had opened his own Pioneer American Agency in Waco. In 1951, Harold Goodman, Audre’s uncle, was impressed with Rapoport’s success and introduced him to the idea of running American Income. American Income Life Insurance Company (hereafter referred to as "American Income Life," "AIL," or "The Company") was chartered as a mutual assessment association in Indiana with $25,000 of borrowed capital. It was reinsured through American Standard as a new mutual reserve company in March 1951. The Company’s home offices were located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
American Income Life originally sold low-cost hospital insurance plans. During its first year, The Company took in about $95,000 worth of premium income. The Company reached $1 million worth of insurance premiums in 1953. By 1954, AIL was receiving 6,000 insurance policy applications per month.
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