Harry Donenfeld

Harry Donenfeld
Donenfeld at a Superman promotion on July 3rd, 1940 at New York World's Fair
Born	(1893-10-17)October 17, 1893 Iași, Romania
Died	February 1, 1965(1965-02-01) (aged 71) New York City, United States
Occupation	Publisher
Spouse(s)	Gussie Weinstein (1898–1961) (m. 1918)
Children	Irwin (1926–2004) Sonia "Peachy" (b. 1928)
Parent(s)	Itzhak Donenfeld
Relatives	Charlie, Mike, and Irving (brothers)

Harry Donenfeld (October 17, 1893 – February 1965) was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed Detective Comics and Action Comics, the originator publications for the superhero characters Superman and Batman. Donenfeld was also a founder of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Harry Donenfeld was born into a Jewish family in Iași, Romania, and at the age of five emigrated to the United States of America with his parents and his brother Irving. A few years later the family was joined by Harry's two elder brothers Charlie and Mike. Little is known of his early life, as is common with many people entering America during the days of mass immigration; but the family entered America via Ellis Island and took up residence in New York City in the Lower East Side area.

Donenfeld spent his early life in and out of school, and later in and out of gangs, refusing to settle down or find an occupation like his brothers, who had set up a printing enterprise. Harry became a clothing salesman working in the city, and saw himself as a class above the ordinary working man, and wanted a better life, but preferably without the hard work. After he avoided the draft in 1917, he married Gussie Weinstein in 1918, and thanks to a loan from her parents he was able to open a clothing store in Newark, New Jersey.

When consumer spending dropped in the US in late 1920, Harry and Gussie's store fell on hard times and by early 1921 they were in debt. Harry's skills of flattery and fast talking were of no use when the country was in economic decline and despite Gussie's best efforts the store went broke. Under pressure to find a steady income, Harry found work with his brothers' printing company, now called Martin Press, as a salesman and fourth partner. During the twenties Martin Press saw a vast expansion in capital. It is speculated that Harry, through links with gangster Frank Costello, moved alcohol, now illegal during the prohibition, along with legitimate Canadian pulp paper across the border. By 1923 Harry had managed his most important sales deal of his life, acquiring the rights for Martin Press to print six million subscription leaflets for Hearst magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping. This was partly due to his new underworld contacts having close connections with Hearst newspaper salesman Moe Annenberg. The company was able to move from their earlier downtown location to a twelve-story building in the Chelsea district. 1923 also saw the emergence of the brutal business side of Harry as he took control of Martin Press and forced his two older brothers out of the company, leaving Irving as a minority partner and head printer. Harry then changed the company name from Martin Press to Donny Press.