Albert Kahn (banker)
Banker, philanthropist, pioneer of photography (1860–1940)
Albert Kahn (3 March 1860 – 14 November 1940) was a French banker and philanthropist, known for initiating The Archives of the Planet, a vast photographical project. Spanning 22 years, it resulted in a collection of 72,000 colour photographs and 183,000 metres of film.
Biography
Early life
He was born Abraham Kahn in Marmoutier, Bas-Rhin, France, on 3 March 1860, the eldest of four children of Louis Kahn, a Jewish cattle dealer, and Babette Kahn (née Bloch), an uneducated homebound mother.
Kahn's mother died when he was ten years old, and, following the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, the Kahn family moved to Saint-Mihiel in north-eastern France in 1872, where he continued his studies at the Collège de Saverne from 1873 to 1876.
In 1879, Kahn became a bank clerk in Paris but studied for a degree in the evenings. His tutor was Henri Bergson, who became his lifelong friend. He graduated in 1881 and continued to mix in intellectual circles, making friends with Auguste Rodin and Mathurin Méheut. In 1892, Kahn became a principal associate of the Goudchaux Bank, which was then regarded as one of the most important financial houses in Europe. He also promoted higher education through travel scholarships.
Later life
The economic crisis of the Great Depression ruined Kahn and put an end to his project.
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