FRIEDSAM, MICHAEL

FRIEDSAM, MICHAEL (1858–1931), U.S. businessman, public servant, philanthropist, and art collector. Friedsam, who was born in New York, began working for the B. Altman & Company department store at the age of 17. He became a company partner in 1900 and a vice president in 1909. Upon the death of company president Benjamin Altman in 1913, Friedsam became president of the company and of the Altman Foundation, established to disburse the bulk of Altman's fortune for charitable and educational purposes. During World War I Friedsam, as a New York State representative of the Federal Food Administration, participated in government efforts to regulate consumption and check profiteering. He also held the rank of colonel in the New York State National Guard. In 1925 Friedsam chaired the committee appointed by Governor Al Smith that recommended increased New York State financial aid to public schools. Friedsam willed portions of his extensive fine arts collection to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1932, under the terms of his will, the Friedsam Foundation was established, for assisting the young and aged and for educational purposes. (Richard Skolnik)