Charles Bronfman with Les Concordes quarterback Luc Tousignant, displaying helmet with team's logo, and Concordes president Sam Etcheverry, 1982.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
Charles Bronfman co-founded Taglit Birthright Israel, which has sent over 500,000 young Jews on a free trip to Israel.
Photo Credit : Sivan Farag
Charles Bronfman.
Photo Credit : Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives
Charles Bronfman and Manny Batshaw.
Photo Credit : Jewish Public Library - Archives
1931 -
Charles Bronfman
Charles Bronfman is a Canadian philanthropist and Jewish community leader, and the original owner of the Montreal Expos.
Bronfman was born in Montreal – where he would spend the majority of his life – to parents Samuel and Saidye Bronfman . After graduating from McGill University, he became closely involved with his father’s liquor business, Seagram’s. For close to 50 years, he worked for the company in various positions, including President and Co-Chairman. Bronfman has also been involved with Cemp Investments, the predecessor of his investment firm, Claridge, which was founded in 1987.
In 1968, the Montreal Expos was formed – the first Canadian team admitted to the National Baseball League. Bronfman became their first majority owner. Then, in 1982, one day after the Montreal Alouettes fell under financial collapse, Bronfman bought their remains and began the Montreal Concordes.
Like his parents, Bronfman is deeply committed to philanthropic ventures. Amongst many other initiatives in Canada, the United States and Israel, in 1999, he founded Taglit Birthright, which provides free, educational trips to Israel for young Jewish adults. He continues to remain one of the program’s principal donors. He is also the Chairman of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies Inc., a collection of international charitable organizations. Furthermore, he has become a leader in the Jewish community, occupying positions including first Chairman of the United Jewish Communities (now the Jewish Federations of North America).
Canada’s Heritage Minutes also has links to Bronfman: He was a founding Co-Chairman of Historica, which produced the popular television shorts. Indeed, it was his comment during a meeting – “if television can use 30 seconds or 60 seconds to persuade people that Cadillacs or cornflakes are interesting, couldn’t we also use that short piece of time to persuade Canadians that their history is interesting? You tell me how to do it and I’ll fund it.” – that led to their conception.
Bronfman has been awarded numerous honours and accolades, including Officer of the Order of Canada (1981), Companion to the Order of Canada (1992) and Member of the Quebec’s Privy Council (1992). In 2012, he joined Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge, promising to give away the majority of his fortune.
Charles is married to Rita Bronfman, has two children, Stephen and Ellen Bronfman, and six grandchildren. His son Stephen is the Executive Chairman of Charles’ investment firm, Claridge Inc., and sits on multiple Boards of Directors, including the David Suzuki Foundation. Furthermore, he is the Revenue Chair of the Liberal Party of Canada. With his wife, Stephen founded the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation, carrying on the philanthropic tradition of his parents and grandparents.
