Seymour Durst
| Seymour Durst | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 7, 1913 New York City, United States |
| Died | May 15, 1995 (aged 81) New York City, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.A. University of Southern California |
| Spouse(s) | Bernice Herstein (m. 1940; d. 1950) |
| Children |
Robert Durst Douglas Durst Thomas Durst Wendy Durst Kreeger |
| Parent(s) |
Joseph Durst Rose Friedwald |
Seymour Bernard Durst (September 7, 1913 – May 15, 1995) was an American real estate investor and developer. He was also a philanthropist and the inventor of the National Debt Clock.
Seymour was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, a son of Joseph Durst, a Jewish immigrant from Gorlice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland), and Rose Friedwald.
His father was a tailor who arrived penniless to the United States eventually becoming a successful dress manufacturer and then expanding into real estate management and development. His father was also very active in the Jewish community, serving on the executive committee of the Jewish Education Association and serving as president of the Hebrew Free Loan Society for 27 years. He had four siblings: Roy, Alma, Edwin and David. In 1931, Seymour graduated from the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, the Bronx. In 1935, he graduated from the University of Southern California, where he majored in accounting.
In 1940, Durst joined the real estate firm, The Durst Organization, which had been founded by his father. After his father's death in 1974, Seymour became more involved in the company. The company invested in Manhattan real estate, based upon Durst's belief that one should never buy anything one cannot walk to.
While on holiday in Paris, France in the early 1960s, Seymour noticed a book on NYC history by a German author in a mom and pop bookstore. He later remarked, "I figured if a German wrote a book about NYC that was available in Paris, that this was an interesting subject indeed." Gradually, over time, what started as a hobby resulted in a private collection that came to be known as The Old York Library. Originally housed in a brownstone on East 48th street in midtown Manhattan in the 1970s, the library later moved to another brownstone at 120 East 61st Street. After Seymour's death in May 1995, the library was first relocated to the City University of New York in the historic B. Altman building across from the Empire State Building. Currently it resides at Columbia University's Avery Architectural And Fine Arts Library where it is open to the public.
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