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Economics & Business

Frederik Philips

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Who

Frederik Philips · Economics & Business

What

Banker who financed the founding of Philips in Eindhoven in 1891, son of Jewish-born parents and first cousin of Karl Marx

When

1er décembre 1830, Zaltbommel, Pays-Bas — 12 juin 1900, Zaltbommel, Pays-Bas

Where

Zaltbommel, Eindhoven

Biography

Frederik Philips is recognized among Jewish contributors to Economics & Business — Banker who financed the founding of Philips in Eindhoven in 1891, son of Jewish-born parents and first cousin of Karl Marx

How & why

Origins and early life

Frederik Philips was born in Zaltbommel, on the Waal, on 1 December 1830, the son of Lion Philips, a tobacco merchant and banker, and of Sophie Pressburg, both of them born Jews — of the Jewish families Philips of Zaltbommel and Pressburg of Nijmegen — who had joined the Dutch Reformed Church with their households in February 1826, four years before his birth; he was therefore raised a Christian from the cradle, which this fiche states plainly, and his place here rests on his two Jewish-born parents.

Work and career

His mother's sister Henriette was the mother of Karl Marx, who visited his uncle Lion at Zaltbommel more than once and borrowed money from the family bank. Frederik took over that bank and the trade in tobacco and coffee, prospered, and became one of the wealthy men of the Dutch river country. His place in history was made late, at sixty: in 1891 he put up the capital for his son Gerard, an engineer trained at Delft and in Glasgow, to start a small factory of carbon-filament electric lamps in an abandoned building at Eindhoven, and became a partner of the firm, Philips & Co.

Later years

The venture nearly failed, and Frederik sent his younger son Anton, a commercial talent, to rescue it in 1895; by the time he died at Zaltbommel on 12 June 1900, the factory that his money had founded was on its way to becoming one of the largest electrical companies in the world, and his grandson Frits, born after his death, would lead it through the German occupation.

Sources & external links

Verify and go deeper with these external references.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_Philips

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Contributions & Sources

Banker who financed the founding of Philips in Eindhoven in 1891, son of Jewish-born parents and first cousin of Karl Marx

1891

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_Philips