Edgar Bronfman Sr.

Edgar Bronfman Sr.
Edgar Bronfman in 1989
Born	Edgar Miles Bronfman (1929-06-20)June 20, 1929 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	December 21, 2013(2013-12-21) (aged 84) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Natural causes
Residence	New York, NY
Nationality	American Naturalized 1959
Alma mater	McGill University Williams College
Occupation	Businessman Philanthropist
Net worth	$2.6 billion (2011)
Spouse(s)	Ann Loeb (1953–1973) Lady Carolyn Townshend (1973–1974) Rita "Georgiana" Webb (dates unknown) Jan Aronson (1994–2013; his death)
Children	with Loeb: Samuel Bronfman Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Matthew Bronfman Holly Bronfman Lev Adam Bronfman with Webb: Sara Bronfman Clare Bronfman
Parent(s)	Samuel Bronfman Saidye Rosner Bronfman
Relatives	Minda de Gunzberg (sister) Phyllis Lambert (sister) Charles Bronfman (brother)

Edgar Miles Bronfman (June 20, 1929 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist. He worked for his family drinks firm, Seagrams, eventually becoming president, treasurer and chief executive. As President of the World Jewish Congress, Bronfman is especially remembered for initiating diplomacy with the Soviet Union. This resulted in the legitimising of the Hebrew language in Russia, and major steps towards allowing Soviet Jews to practice their own religion and emigrate to Israel.

Bronfman was born in Montreal into the Jewish Canadian Bronfman family, the son of Samuel Bronfman and Saidye Rosner Bronfman. Sam and Saidye were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who settled and raised their four children in Montreal. Sam and his brother Allan built the family’s first liquor distillery in 1925 near Montreal. They later bought a distillery owned by the Seagram family and incorporated the name. The U.S. subsidiary of the Seagram Company Ltd. opened in 1933, where Edgar Bronfman would later take over as head.

Bronfman had two older sisters. One is Minda de Gunzburg, who married Baron Alain de Gunzburg (1925-2004), a great grandson of Joseph Günzburg. The other is architecture maven Phyllis Lambert. Bronfman also had a younger brother, Charles Bronfman. The Bronfmans "kept a kosher home, and the children received religious schooling on weekends. But during the week Edgar and his younger brother, Charles, were among a handful of Jews sent to private Anglophone schools, where they attended chapel and ate pork."

Bronfman attended Selwyn House School in Montreal and Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. He later attended Williams College before transferring and graduating from McGill University with a bachelor's degree in commerce in 1951.