Eastman, George

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Eastman, George

Eastman, George, prominent American industrialist and philanthropist; b. Waterville, N.Y., July 12, 1854; d. (suicide) Rochester, N.Y., March 14, 1932. He perfected a process for making dry plates for photocopy (1880) and in 1884 founded the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co., which in 1892 became the Eastman Kodak Co., subsequently one of the leading companies of its kind in the world. A munificent philanthropist, he gave away more than $75 million to various scientific, educational, and cultural organizations. He founded the Eastman School of Music of the Univ. of Rochester (1921), and also endowed the Eastman Theatre. He took his own life after learning that he had cancer.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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