1828 - 1905

When Meyer Guggenheim was born in Lengnau in Canton Aargau, it was one of only two villages in Switzerland where Jews were allowed to live. Because he was Jewish, there were strict limits on his movements and his choice of career. When he died in New York, he was one of the richest men in the country, with business interests all over the Americas.

Guggenheim's father emigrated to Philadelphia in 1847 with the woman who was to become his second wife: they had been forbidden to marry in Lengnau because they were too poor. With them to America went Meyer, his five sisters and the seven children of his stepmother.

The young Meyer started out importing textiles from Switzerland, which he did successfully for about 40 years. But he made his fortune when he turned his attention to first to mining - lead, silver and above all copper – and then to smelting. In 1879 he paid 5,000 dollars for a half interest in an unproven silver mine in Leadville, Colorado, and struck lucky. His first two mines were soon turning a profit of 2,000 dollars a day.

He was lucky with his investment, but he was also astute. He was fortunate too in having five sons who followed him in the business and developed it. The Guggenheims spread their interests into South America and Africa.

Fabulously wealthy as they were, several of Meyer's descendants became patrons of the arts, promoting many of the 20th century's most important figures. For many people the Guggenheim name today is associated not with mines, but with museums, which are known as much for their exciting architecture as for the ground-breaking works inside them.