Kahn, Otto Hermann

Kahn, Otto Hermann (kän), 1867–1934, American banker and patron of the arts, born and educated in Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1893 and in 1897 joined the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company in New York City. He was closely associated with E. H. Harriman in the reorganization of the Union Pacific and other railroads and had a part in numerous international finance organizations. Among the many theatrical and musical groups he helped underwrite were the Russian ballet and the Paris Conservatory orchestra in their American appearances. From 1903 he was active on the board of the Metropolitan Opera Company; in 1908 he brought, from Milan, Giulio Gatti-Casazza as director and Arturo Toscanini as principal conductor, launching the company on one of its most successful periods. A collection of his writings and speeches was published as Of Many Things (1926).

Bibliography

See biography by M. J. Matz (1963).