Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza

Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza (April 23, 1921-April 27, 2002), Swiss industrial magnate, "diversified his father's war-shattered company, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group (pronounced TEESS-an Bor-nuh-MEES-uh), into glass, plastics, automobile parts, trading and container leasing."

"His grandfather, August Thyssen, of Rhineland peasant stock, built a chicken-wire business into a steel and armaments empire. Of his seven children, the most formidable were the oldest, Fritz, who inherited leadership of the family industries, and the third son, Heinrich, who was Heini's father.

"Fritz Thyssen was one of Hitler's earliest and most ardent supporters, helping finance the Nazis' Beer-Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923. Though he broke with the Nazis during World War II and was interned in a concentration camp, his earlier notoriety led the Allies to jail him for several more years after the war.

"Heini's father, Heinrich Thyssen, avoided similar misfortune and dishonor by abandoning Germany as a young man and settling in Hungary in 1905. In Budapest, Heinrich married the daughter of the king's chamberlain, who, having no sons of his own, adopted Heinrich and passed on his barony to him. To accommodate the noble title, Heinrich added his father-in-law's last name, becoming Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza." Source.

External links

• Jonathan Kandel, "Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, Fabled Art Collector, Dies at 81," New York Times, April 28, 2002.