Stieglitz

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STIEGLITZ

STIEGLITZ (18th century), Russian bankers from Waldeck, Germany, where bernhard (hirsch) became court agent to the Prince of Waldeck in 1767. His sons nicolai (1772–1821) and ludwig (1778–1843) were baptized and immigrated to St. Petersburg, Russia. There they formed a successful banking house which acquired a virtual monopoly in Russian banking and the *Rothschilds transacted their Russian business through Stieglitz. In 1826 Ludwig Stieglitz, the head of the house, was made a baron. His son, alexander (d. 1884), was instrumental in establishing the Russian State Bank and served as its first president (1860–66). In 1863 he liquidated his father's bank. A great philanthropist, he founded the School of Arts in St. Petersburg. Members of the Stieglitz family married into the Baltic and Russian nobility, and their St. Petersburg house was a famous social and artistic center.

bibliography:

H. Schnee, Die Hoffinanz und der moderne Staat, 3 (1955), 90–94; S. Ginzburg, Meshumodim in Tsaristishn Rusland (1946), 199.

[Joachim O. Ronall]

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