BRONFMAN, SAMUEL

(1891-1971)

   Canadian liquor and oil magnate. Born in Brandon, Manitoba, he left school at the age of 15. He later joined his brothers in the hotel business, and in his early 20s took charge of a hotel in Winnipeg. The Bronfman family subsequently entered the liquor trade. By 1929 the Bronfmans had joined the Distillers Corporation-Segram Ltd and became one of the largest distillers. With the end of prohibition, Bronfman expanded his business; later he took the firm into the petroleum business. During World War II he set up the Canadian Jewish Congress Refuge Committee.