Frank Altschul

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/30/obituaries/frank-altschul-a-banker-and-noted-philanthropist.html?mcubz=0 accessed 9/1/2017 Frank Altschul, an investment banker who was a senior partner at Lazard Freres & Company until 1945 and chairman of General Investors Corporation Inc. until his retirement in 1961, died in his sleep yesterday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 94 years old.

One of the most successful financiers of his time, Mr. Altschul was, in many ways, a Renaissance man. His interests were wideranging; his activities, even into old age, were marked by boundless energy. He lived well, befitting a very rich man, but considered money most useful in a worthy cause.

He made a series of endowments to his alma mater, Yale, and to other universities and colleges, as well as gifts of observatories and library collections. He helped build hospital wings and made contributions to numerous charities.

He possessed a keen interest in international relations, rare-book collecting and politics. He was a Republican, though a Democrat such as Adlai E. Stevenson received his enthusiastic support. Had Ties to the Lehmans

Mr. Altschul was closely connected with the Lehman family of New York. His sister, Edith, became the wife of Herbert H. Lehman, the late United States Senator and Governor of New York, and Mr. Altschul's wife was Mrs. Lehman's niece, the former Helen Lehman Goodhart.

Born April 21, 1887, in San Francisco, Mr. Altschul was the son of Charles Altschul, who had emigrated from London in 1877, and the former Camilla Mandlebaum. The elder Mr. Altschul began his business career as the eighth employee of Lazard Freres, a San Francisco banking concern that had been founded originally in New Orleans by Alsatian immigrants.

Eventually, Charles Altschul, who moved his family to New York in 1901, became a partner in New York and retired in 1916. Frank Altschul graduated from Yale in 1908, and Yale was to become the recipient of millions of dollars of Altschul largesse, along with his famous collections of rare books and papers.

Mr. Altschul joined Lazard Freres shortly after leaving Yale. He was married to Helen Lehman Goodhart in 1913, and during World War I served as an Army captain in France, which awarded him the Legion of Honor. Served on Stock Exchange

During a long business career in which he amassed a sizable fortune, Mr. Altschul was a high-level official of two of the financial community's most influential concerns, Lazard Freres and General American Investors Corporation.

During the 1930's, he served on the governing committee of the New York Stock Exchange and as a director of the Chase National Bank. In 1943, he became Lazard Freres' senior partner.

Mr. Altschul, a seemingly tireless man, also found time to indulge himself in many philanthropies and in collecting rare books, manuscripts and illuminations. He also pursued an active interest in organizations devoted to foreign and public affairs.

Over the years, Mr. Altschul and his wife endowed several chairs at Yale and other colleges and universities. These included a gift of $500,000, in 1961, to endow a professorship at Yale named after the then-president of the university, A. Whitney Griswold; a $500,000 gift to Williams College in 1964 to establish a professorship in memory of Governor Lehman and a gift of $1 million in 1969 to endow a chair in cardiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Headed Yale University Council

In 1960, the Altschuls contributed an unspecified amount of money to make possible the Stamford Observatory near their longtime home in Connecticut.

In 1924, Mr. Altschul was a co-founder and the first chairman of the Yale Library Associates, which oversees all the Yale libraries and built the Beinecke Library that houses rare books, many of them the gift of Mr. Altschul.

For many years, he was also president of the Yale University Council, which plans for the university's various colleges and departments. Along with Mr. Griswold, he was given major credit for reorganizing Yale's department of social sciences.

Mr. Altschul said of his interest in books: ''When I was a little boy in San Francisco, my mother surprised me with a printing press for Christmas. Within a day or two she found printer's ink all over the house, and to my dismay returned the press to the emporium and gave me a standard dictionary in two volumes as a most unwelcome substitute.'' Presented Collections to Yale

Mr. Altschul was already an amateur printer and a serious collector of books in grade school, and while at Yale carefully pulled together an impressive collection of the works of George Meredith. That collection, along with Mr. Altschul's hoard of French illustrated books and early printed books, eventually wound up at Yale.

The collector also presented Yale, in 1946, what was described as ''one of the most complete files extant'' of The New York Weekly Journal, including the issue ordered burned ''by the hands of the common hangman or whipper'' in 1734. The collection's historical worth is incalculable, as The Journal's publisher, John Peter Zenger, was arrested two weeks after the publication of the issue ordered burned, and tried on libel charges. His acquittal was a landmark for freedom of the press in Colonial America.

Mr. Altschul, who operated a small printing press in his New York apartment before World War I, in 1934 established Overbrook Press in what had been an abandoned pigpen on his 450-acre Connecticut estate. It has since specialized in exquisitely printed and illustrated, limited edition books for collectors.

Overbrook's reputation for fine typography and careful bookmaking has become legend in the bibliophile's world, and Mr. Altschul remained proud, to the end of his life, that each year at least one Overbrook Press publication was included in the ''50 books of the year'' show of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Detested Political Extremes

Mr. Altschul was also a director of the English-Speaking Union, and for many years served as vice president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and as vice president and secretary of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Although a registered Republican who twice served as a Connecticut delegate to his party's national conventions, Mr. Altschul harbored what he called ''a strong detestation for extremes of the right as well as the left.''

He crossed party lines with ease, supporting Democrats such as his friend and neighbor, the late Senator William Benton, and Governor Stevenson in his 1952 Presidential race against Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In one of the dozens of letters he wrote to The New York Times over the years, Mr. Altschul said that he had supported Mr. Eisenhower before the campaign, but accused the general of having lowered his standards for ''political expediency,'' adding: ''I have been alarmed by the views that General Eisenhower has expressed in the field of foreign policy.''

Meanwhile, Mr. Altschul said, ''Governor Stevenson has grown in stature from day to day as he has continued to talk sense to the American people.'' Mr. Altschul backed up his words with substantial gifts to the Stevenson campaign fund.

Mr. Altschul is survived by his wife; two daughters, Margaret Lang and Edith Graham; a son Arthur G., a limited partner in the investment concern of Goldman Sachs and board chairman of General American Investors Corporation; 11 grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.

Frank Altschul was born in San Francisco on April 21, 1887 to Charles and Camilla Mandlebaum Altschul. Charles, a partner in the investment firm Lazard Frares, brought his family to New York City in 1901 to work at the company's New York office. Frank Altschul studied at Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908. Following commencement, he traveled for two years, studying banking in London, Paris, Berlin, and Mexico City. During World War I, he served as an Army captain in France and was awarded the Legion of Honor. He married Helen Lehman Goodhart in 1913, and the couple would have four children. Altschul proved to be a highly successful financier and became a senior partner at Lazard Freres in 1943. In 1948, he became chairman of the board of the General American Investors Corporation, where he remained until his retirement in 1961. During the 1930's, Altschul also served on the governing committee of the New York Stock Exchange and was director of the Chase National Bank. Altschul applied his skill in running large organizations to a variety of causes, particularly political and advocacy organizations. He served as Director of the English-Speaking Union and vice president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and was heavily involved in the Council on Foreign Relations for almost four decades, serving as secretary and later as vice president from 1951 to 1971. Altschul's interest in interntional affairs was also present in his writing. A prolific writer of essays, articles, and book reviews, as well as a book, Let No Wave Engulf Us (1944). He frequently wrote letters to the editors of major newspapers, particularly the New York Times. Altschul was invited to speak before groups ranging from political and business committees to high school classes, and gave talks on psychological warfare, US relations with Israel, and many other subjects. A self-described bibliophile, Altschul was an avid collector of books and possessed a lifelong fascination with printing. He was the co-founder and first chairman of the Yale Library Associates, which oversees the Yale Library System the Beineke Library. He established an endowment and donated much of his own collection to the Bienecke, including an extensive collection of the works and papers of George Meredith. In 1933, Altschul founded Overbrook Press on his estate in Stamford, Connecticut and began producing a wide variety of books, pamphlets, and ephemera. The press was highly regarded for its craftsmanship and innovative design work, and Overbrook volumes were consistently included in the ''Fifty Books of the Year'' show of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Overbrook Press was dissolved in 1969. Altschul was a philanthropist and supporter of education and the arts, endowing chairs and fellowships at Yale, Williams College, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the New School for Social Research. He also gave generously to hospitals and charities. His wife Helen shared his interest in education, serving on the board of trustees Barnard College and funding a chair in English. Frank Altschul died on May 29, 1981.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_4078512/