BLUMENTHAL, GEORGE

BLUMENTHAL, GEORGE (1858–1941), U.S. banker, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. He was born in Frankfurt and worked there in the banking house of Speyer. After moving to the United States in 1882, he became senior partner of Lazard Frères and director of various banks and insurance companies. In 1898 he joined other bankers in raising a fund of $50 million to stop the flow of gold from the United States, and after World War I, played an important part in stabilizing the franc. Blumenthal was director and president of the Mount Sinai Hospital, the largest Jewish hospital in New York. He donated one million dollars to the hospital and a new wing was erected as a memorial to his son. He was active in support of the arts, giving a million dollars to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, of which he became president in 1934. In 1937 he presented a collection of first editions of important French writers to the New York Public Library.