Maurice Wertheim

Wertheim & Co.

Company type	Private
Industry	Investment banking
Founded	1927
Founder	Maurice Wertheim
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	Mergers and acquisitions advisory

Maurice Wertheim (February 16, 1886 – May 27, 1950) was an American figure known for his work as an investment banker, art connoisseur, philanthropist, and supporter of chess. In 1927, he established Wertheim & Co., a prominent investment banking firm focused on mergers and acquisitions.

Life

Wertheim was born into a Jewish family as the son of Jacob Wertheim from Hartford, Connecticut and Hannah Frank from Hoboken, New Jersey. He earned his B.A. in 1906 and M.A. in 1907 from Harvard University. After gaining experience at his father’s enterprise, the United Cigar Manufacturers Company, he inherited close to half a million dollars. His career in investment banking began in New York in 1915; he joined Hallgarten & Company in 1919 before launching Wertheim & Co. in 1927. During World War II, he contributed to the war effort by serving as a dollar-a-year man on the War Production Board under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Wertheim served as trustee for several organizations including the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Mount Sinai Hospital, and The Nation. He also held the presidency of the American Jewish Committee between 1941 and 1943.

A passionate chess enthusiast and benefactor, Wertheim presided over the Manhattan Chess Club, providing financial support for both the club and correspondence chess activities. He sponsored the 1941 U.S. Chess Championship contest featuring Samuel Reshevsky and I.A. Horowitz, as well as backing American players in the 1945 US vs. USSR radio chess competition. Furthermore, he was instrumental in organizing and funding the 1946 U.S.–Soviet chess match held in Moscow, convincing the U.S. State Department of its strategic diplomatic importance during the nascent Cold War period.

In addition to his chess patronage, Wertheim engaged in cultural enterprises, acting as a director of the New York Theatre Guild. He purchased land along the Carmans River on Long Island for purposes of conservation and hunting; this property was donated jointly with his wife Cecile in 1947 to establish the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.

His collection of art included significant works by artists such as Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh. Upon his death, these French Impressionist pieces were bequeathed to Harvard's Fogg Art Museum.

After succumbing to a heart attack in 1950, a commemorative Maurice Wertheim chess tournament took place in New York in 1951, with Samuel Reshevsky emerging victorious. In tribute to him, his daughter Barbara founded the Wertheim Study Room at the New York Public Library in 1963.

Personal life

In 1909, Wertheim married Alma Morgenthau, daughter of Henry Morgenthau Sr.. Together they had three daughters: Josephine Wertheim Pomerance (mother of Rafe Pomerance), historian Barbara W. Tuchman (1912–1989), mother of Jessica Mathews, and Anne Rebe Wertheim Werner (1914–1996), who was formerly married to Robert E. Simon.

Alma played an active role in philanthropy; she co-founded the League of Composers in 1923 and financially supported its publication, Modern Music. She was also an art collector with an interest in works by Georgia O'Keeffe, while she and Maurice supported the Intimate Gallery. The couple divorced in 1929.

Following their separation, Alma launched Cos Cob Press that same year to publish contemporary American composers; this press was eventually acquired by Boosey and Hawkes. She remarried Paul Lester Wiener in 1934 (they divorced during the 1940s) and passed away in 1953.

Wertheim’s second marriage was to Ruth White in March 1930; they did not have children and divorced five years later in 1935. In 1944, he wed Cecile Berlage, who remained his wife until his death; they had no offspring.

His granddaughter Betsy Ann Langman married film producer Budd Schulberg, while another granddaughter, Lynn Langman, wed attorney and philanthropist Philip H. Lilienthal in 1963.

External links

• Biography at New York Public Library
• Publication on the Wertheim Collection at Harvard Art Museums