S. Marshall Kempner

Sigmund Marshall Kempner (December 30, 1898 - August 1, 1987)[1] was an American investment banker and founder of the French Bank of California, later known as Bank of the West.[2]

Sigmund Marshall Kempner
BornDecember 30, 1898
New York City
DiedAugust 1, 1987
San Francisco, California
NationalityUnited States
EducationB.A. Columbia College
Occupationinvestment banker
Known forfounding Bank of the West
Spouse(s)Barbara Hazel Guggenheim (divorced)
Charlotte Kempner
Children2
Relativessee Guggenheim family
Alan H. Kempner (brother-in-law)

Biography

Kempner was a native of New York City and graduated from Columbia College, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1919. He also attended Harvard Business School before entering the banking industry.[3]He was a managing executive of Heidelbach, Ickelheimer & Co. from 1920 to 1927 and a partner of the firm until 1942 along with Stern, Kempner & Company and Spencer B. Rock & Company.[2]

He served a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army's finance department during World War II and headed the Victory Loan program for the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, where he remained for the rest of his life.[4]He was involved with Jewish causes and was the treasurer of National Refugee Service and was an executive on the American Jewish Committee in San Francisco.[5][6]

Kempner later served as president and director of the Industrial Capital Corporation, an early venture capital firm that was seen as a precursor to West Coast venture capital, until 1965.[2][7]He was the founder and chairman of the French Bank of California, which was merged into the Bank of the West during the 1980s.[8]A civic leader, he was also a founder of French American International School in San Francisco.[9]He also served on the finance chairman of governor Pat Brown's business advisory committee.[2][10]

He received a John Jay Award from Columbia College in 1981 for distinguished professional achievement with fellow college alumni Armand Hammer and George Segal.[11]He was also a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and Order of Leopold II of Belgium.[9]

Personal Life

Kempner married Barbara Hazel Guggenheim, the sister of Peggy Guggenheim and daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim of the Guggenheim family in 1921.[3][12]He passed away on August 1, 1987 at age 88 in San Francisco, survived by his second wife, Charlotte Kempner, two daughters, and four grandchildren.[2][13]His brother-in-law, Alan H. Kempner, is the son-in-law of prominent banker Carl M. Loeb, who founded Loeb, Rhoades & Co.[14]His daughter, Charlotte Kempner Beyes, was a filmmaker who made documentaries to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.[15]

References
  1. "Klempner family". www.ics.uci.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  2. "S. Marshall Kempner Dead; Longtime Investment Banker". The New York Times. 1987-08-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  3. Columbia Alumni News. Alumni Council of Columbia University. 1920.
  4. Kay, Jane (2005-03-19). "Charlotte Kempner Beyers -- documentary filmmaker". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  5. "JEWISH NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES" (PDF). American Jewish Committee. 1940. p. 493. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  6. Ro'i, Yaacov (2003-10-30). The Struggle for Soviet Jewish Emigration, 1948-1967. Cambridge University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-521-52244-1.
  7. Nicholas, Tom (2019-06-03). VC: An American History. Harvard University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-674-98800-2.
  8. "Once upon a time… BNP Paribas in the American West | Archives & Histoire BNP Paribas". history.bnpparibas. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  9. Columbia College today. New York: Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development. 1988. p. 34.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. "San Bernardino Sun 18 February 1959 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  11. "John Jay Awards". Columbia College Alumni Association. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  12. Dearborn, Mary V. (2004). Mistress of modernism : the life of Peggy Guggenheim. Houghton Mifflin. p. 38. ISBN 0-618-12806-9. OCLC 54972790.
  13. "Charlotte Kempner -- S.F. community volunteer, activist". SFGate. 2003-07-02. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  14. James, George (1985-12-19). "Alan H. Kempner, Publishing Offical and a Broker, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  15. Fox, Margalit (2005-04-11). "Charlotte Kempner Beyers, 73, Filmmaker, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
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