Fleischmann, Julius

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FLEISCHMANN, JULIUS

FLEISCHMANN, JULIUS (1872–1925), U.S. businessman and politician. Fleischmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father, Charles Fleischmann, an immigrant from Hungary, had established a large concern for the manufacture of compressed yeast cakes. Fleischmann entered his father's business soon after leaving school.

Upon his father's death in 1897, he and his brother took over the business, which he ran by himself from 1905 on. Fleischmann's activity in local Republican politics led to his nomination for mayor in 1900. He was elected to the office and reelected in 1902. Though he declined to run for a third term, he served as Cincinnati's commissioner of parks during 1905–12, also attending several national Republican conventions as an Ohio delegate. An avid sportsman and breeder of horses, Fleischmann collapsed and died while playing in a polo game, leaving a large fortune. His financial speculations were so large that the stock market in Chicago suffered a sharp decline upon news of his sudden death.