Susman Brothers
Encyclopedia
Susman Brothers was a business partnership that united brothers Elie Susman
and Harry Susman after they crossed the Zambezi
river in 1901. The brothers were Jewish businessmen from Riteve
, western Russia, now Lithuania
. They founded, owned, and operated several large businesses in Africa. Elie Susman, the younger of the two, was the founder of Susman Brothers. However, it was not until 1907 that the business name of "E. Susman" was changed to "Susman Brothers".
Retail stores in Northern Rhodesia
(now Zambia
) date to the Susman brothers. Their business empire lasted over a century by overcoming logistical difficulties, physically-challenging obstacles, and political changes. They developed an extensive trading, transport and ranching network, which stretched from Botswana to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. Though they operated in many different places, their main focus was always the country now known as Zambia.
, South Africa
, before crossing the Zambezi (at Kazungula
) with Elia to buy cattle from King Lewanika
of Barotseland
in 1901.
mine near Ndola
in 1922. But Susman brothers pre-date to between 1916 and 1918. The brothers owned two concessions which covered part of what eventually become the Nkana
Mine. The brothers' names still appear on the original title deeds. The Susman brothers eventually sold the claims for the Nkana prospect to William Lee, but retained the trading rights on the concessions. The brothers eventually become part of one of the richest copper mines in the world.
The Susman brothers heavily engaged, throughout the 1920s, in cattle buying along the line of rail. The Susmans supplied ivory bangles which were essential as trade goods. Their Leopards Hill Ranch near Lusaka Boma
was used as a holding ranch, for cattle bought along the line of rail. Business was good for the Susman brothers; they asked the Northern Rhodesian government to enlarge the ranch. After complex negotiation with the government in 1927, the ranch was enlarged by 14000 acres (56.7 km²), in two blocks taken from the Soil people reserve. The ranch had 400 people living on it, including 150 labourers. Also in the 1920s, the Susman brothers had planted up to 200 acres of wheat, as well as maize, at the ranch.
During the 1920s, the Susman brothers bought and sold a number of other farms in Lusaka District
. Next to their Leopards Hill Ranch, they grew tobacco
on the Kabulonga farm, which was much closer to the rail line. But they sold the farm, after collapse of tobacco prices in 1928. Today, the Kabulonga farm has become the site for Lusaka’s most exclusive residential suburb. The Susman brothers also owned a section of a farm called Villa Elisabetta, farm number 110a. The brothers sold this farm to David Shapiro, for his block-and-tile-making business. They also took over Wolverton ranch on the Kafue river in Mazabuka; today Nakambala Sugar Estates is on this site.
In the 1920s, H.C. Werner dominated the copperbelt market with cattle working in the mine, and the beef market. “Wingy” Werner, as he was nicknamed because of his half arm, was a Dutchman from South Africa. He had also been involved in the cattle trading business since the early 1920s. He lived at his farm in Lusaka, which he called "Herefords". The Susmans' first major move onto the Copperbelt was when they took over Bwana Mkubwa hotel and Ndola Butchery and Bakery, in September 1928. The brothers formed partnership with a friend from Southern Rhodesia, who also brought his own partners to the business. The most influential partner was Isidore Kollerberg, who was to play an important role on the Copperbelt for the next forty years. The Kollerberg brothers, Latvian Jews, became the major shareholders in this partnership. The partnership built Nkana hotels and Nchanga hotels and setup bakeries and bottle stores in many Copperbelt towns. The Susman brothers were minority shareholders, but were very active in the management of this business. The Susman brothers also took a share in another business run by the Kollerbergs, the Copperfields Cold Storage Limited. This split the copperbelt meat business into two, with Copperfields and H.C. Werner.
The brothers were also joined by Maurice Gersh (1906-1992) and Harry Gersh, their nephews, sons of one of their two sisters, Dora Gersh. Gersh began working in Livingstone at their Pioneer Butchery & Bakery and set up his own store in the town in 1927. The Gersh brothers gained control of the Bwana Mkubwa
Hotel and Ndola
Butchery and Bakery in 1928.
The Susman brothers tried to ensure that at least one of them was always in Livingstone
, to run their most important business interest, the Pioneer Butchery and Bakery, as for long periods, it was the only butchery in the town. The Susmans opened one more business in Livingstone in the early 1930s, when Elie Susman's family house, MARAMBA house, was rebuilt and turned into Windsor Hotel.
The Susman brothers became involved in one more copperbelt enterprise. This time in conjection with their nephews, Maurice and Harry Gersh, they setup in 1931 a company called Economy Stores Limited. It established stores which eventually became department stores called Economy Stores. Economy Stores was to serve as the base for an enormous proliferation of enterprises in the post-War years. When the recession of 1931-33 led to closure of mining operations, the Susman brothers sent Maurice, to "work in their businesses and to oversee the liquidation of some of their assets affected by the recession."Harry Gersh joined his brother on the copperbelt in 1930 and setup a store at Nchanga. He later moved to Nkana and set up another one there also. Elie Susman helped his nephews to start up and setup stores by identifying the sites to build them between 1935 to 1936. Maurice Gersh played a leading role in negotiations with the Northern Rhodesian government, with the set-up on a new town near Nkana, called Kitwe
.
It was as the recovery from the Depression in Northern Rhodesia and South Africa was nearing its completion that the Susman brothers made their most momentous new investment. In December 1934, they agreed to take a share in a new business in South Africa called "Woolworth". Their partner was Max Sonnerberg; Max bought a departmental store in Cape town in 1929, changed its name to "Woolworth" in 1931 and started growing in Cape Town
. There was no relationship with the F.W. Woolworth chain in the United Kingdom, but Max benefitted from the similar names. From 1930 onwards, Elie Susman began to spend half the year with his wife and family at the house in Beach Street, Cape Town
, which he had built, calling this house "Barotse
".
An agreement was concluded in December 1934 in which Susman Brothers invested $25,000 in Woolworth
and took shares in the business. Susman Brothers invested over $50,000 in Woolworth in the next two years. They financed this large investment through an overdraft from their account at Standard Chartered. Elie Susman moved his family from Cape Town to Johannesburg and became a director in June 1935. Max Sonnenberg controlled Cape Town stores, and Elie Susman controlled Transvaal
stores which included Johannesburg. Woolworth was formally launched as a public company in 1935. Elie Susman was 55 years old when he began to work on a more or less full-time basis for Woolworths.
In the 1940s, the brothers took on a partner, Harry Wulfsohn
, to expand and redevelop their business interest in Northern Rhodesia. Their trading business began during the scramble for Africa and the heyday of Imperialism
, coming through the colonial period to the ill-fated federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
. The business went through the triumph of African nationalism and survived into the era of emerging market and liberatisation. In a meeting in February 1946, it was agreed that the company should apply to the government for permission to change its name from "Harry Wulfsohn Limited" to "Susman Brothers and Wulfsohn Limited". In complex negotiations with Harry Susman, Harry Wulfsohn set up this new company, with a fifty-fifty shareholding with the Susman brothers in the new company. Most of the negotiations also involved Elie Susman when he visited Livingstone.
Harry Susman remained the main representative of the Susman family business in Livingstone, until his retirement in 1945. A few months before the end of the Second World War, Harry Susman left Livingstone
and settled on a farm, Umritsor, near Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia
.
river, in April 1951, but sadly he did not live to witness the unveiling of the four-faced town clock that they donated to the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum
, to commemorate that event.
Until his own death in January 1958, there was never any doubt that Elie Susman was, in spite of his absence in South Africa for the most of the year, the senior partner and dominant personality in the business. He was the chairman of both main companies where Harry was a partner. Elie Susman was not prepared to take a secondary role in his businesses until the mid 1950s when his own son David Susman began to take over.
Elie Susman
Elie Susman was the founder of Susman Brothers, an African business partnership. He was a director of approximately 50 companies and chairman of the Rhodesian Mercantile Holding Co.-Personal life:...
and Harry Susman after they crossed the Zambezi
Zambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
river in 1901. The brothers were Jewish businessmen from Riteve
Rietavas
Rietavas is a city in Lithuania on the Jūra River. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 3,979. It is the capital of Rietavas municipality.The city is famous for building the first power station to produce electricity in Lithuania in 1892...
, western Russia, now Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. They founded, owned, and operated several large businesses in Africa. Elie Susman, the younger of the two, was the founder of Susman Brothers. However, it was not until 1907 that the business name of "E. Susman" was changed to "Susman Brothers".
Retail stores in Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
(now Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
) date to the Susman brothers. Their business empire lasted over a century by overcoming logistical difficulties, physically-challenging obstacles, and political changes. They developed an extensive trading, transport and ranching network, which stretched from Botswana to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. Though they operated in many different places, their main focus was always the country now known as Zambia.
Early years
Harry Susman worked as a peddler for a few years in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, before crossing the Zambezi (at Kazungula
Kazungula
Kazungula is a small border town in the Southern Province of Zambia, lying on the north bank of the Zambezi River about 70 km west of Livingstone, at an almost quadripoint where four countries nearly meet...
) with Elia to buy cattle from King Lewanika
Lewanika
Lewanika was the Lozi Litunga of Barotseland from 1878 to 1916...
of Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
in 1901.
1920s
The development of the Northern Rhodesian copperbelt began to take off, with the reorganization of the Bwana MkubwaBwana Mkubwa
Bwana Mkubwa is a settlement and a mine in Copperbelt Province, Zambia. It is the oldest mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt region. As a settlement with no municipal status, it became a locale due to the abundant copper deposits found in the area.-Etymology:Several versions of the origin of the name...
mine near Ndola
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
in 1922. But Susman brothers pre-date to between 1916 and 1918. The brothers owned two concessions which covered part of what eventually become the Nkana
Nkana
Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the local traditional ruler...
Mine. The brothers' names still appear on the original title deeds. The Susman brothers eventually sold the claims for the Nkana prospect to William Lee, but retained the trading rights on the concessions. The brothers eventually become part of one of the richest copper mines in the world.
The Susman brothers heavily engaged, throughout the 1920s, in cattle buying along the line of rail. The Susmans supplied ivory bangles which were essential as trade goods. Their Leopards Hill Ranch near Lusaka Boma
Boma
The port town of Boma in Bas-Congo province was the capital city of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo from 1 May 1886 to 1926, when it was moved to Léopoldville . It exports tropical timber, bananas, cacao, and palm products...
was used as a holding ranch, for cattle bought along the line of rail. Business was good for the Susman brothers; they asked the Northern Rhodesian government to enlarge the ranch. After complex negotiation with the government in 1927, the ranch was enlarged by 14000 acres (56.7 km²), in two blocks taken from the Soil people reserve. The ranch had 400 people living on it, including 150 labourers. Also in the 1920s, the Susman brothers had planted up to 200 acres of wheat, as well as maize, at the ranch.
During the 1920s, the Susman brothers bought and sold a number of other farms in Lusaka District
Lusaka District
Lusaka District is a district of Zambia, located in Lusaka Province. The capital lies at Lusaka. As of the 2000 Zambian Census, the district had a population of 1,084,703 people.-References:...
. Next to their Leopards Hill Ranch, they grew tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
on the Kabulonga farm, which was much closer to the rail line. But they sold the farm, after collapse of tobacco prices in 1928. Today, the Kabulonga farm has become the site for Lusaka’s most exclusive residential suburb. The Susman brothers also owned a section of a farm called Villa Elisabetta, farm number 110a. The brothers sold this farm to David Shapiro, for his block-and-tile-making business. They also took over Wolverton ranch on the Kafue river in Mazabuka; today Nakambala Sugar Estates is on this site.
In the 1920s, H.C. Werner dominated the copperbelt market with cattle working in the mine, and the beef market. “Wingy” Werner, as he was nicknamed because of his half arm, was a Dutchman from South Africa. He had also been involved in the cattle trading business since the early 1920s. He lived at his farm in Lusaka, which he called "Herefords". The Susmans' first major move onto the Copperbelt was when they took over Bwana Mkubwa hotel and Ndola Butchery and Bakery, in September 1928. The brothers formed partnership with a friend from Southern Rhodesia, who also brought his own partners to the business. The most influential partner was Isidore Kollerberg, who was to play an important role on the Copperbelt for the next forty years. The Kollerberg brothers, Latvian Jews, became the major shareholders in this partnership. The partnership built Nkana hotels and Nchanga hotels and setup bakeries and bottle stores in many Copperbelt towns. The Susman brothers were minority shareholders, but were very active in the management of this business. The Susman brothers also took a share in another business run by the Kollerbergs, the Copperfields Cold Storage Limited. This split the copperbelt meat business into two, with Copperfields and H.C. Werner.
The brothers were also joined by Maurice Gersh (1906-1992) and Harry Gersh, their nephews, sons of one of their two sisters, Dora Gersh. Gersh began working in Livingstone at their Pioneer Butchery & Bakery and set up his own store in the town in 1927. The Gersh brothers gained control of the Bwana Mkubwa
Bwana Mkubwa
Bwana Mkubwa is a settlement and a mine in Copperbelt Province, Zambia. It is the oldest mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt region. As a settlement with no municipal status, it became a locale due to the abundant copper deposits found in the area.-Etymology:Several versions of the origin of the name...
Hotel and Ndola
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
Butchery and Bakery in 1928.
1930s
In the early 1930s, the Susman ranch averaged 3,000 cattle. After Werner died in 1933, his wife carried on the business, while the Susman brothers reduced their stake in Copperfields, and in 1937 took a significant share in Werners.The Susman brothers tried to ensure that at least one of them was always in Livingstone
Livingstone, Zambia
Livingstone or Maramba is a historic colonial city and present capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls lying north of the Zambezi River, and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Falls...
, to run their most important business interest, the Pioneer Butchery and Bakery, as for long periods, it was the only butchery in the town. The Susmans opened one more business in Livingstone in the early 1930s, when Elie Susman's family house, MARAMBA house, was rebuilt and turned into Windsor Hotel.
The Susman brothers became involved in one more copperbelt enterprise. This time in conjection with their nephews, Maurice and Harry Gersh, they setup in 1931 a company called Economy Stores Limited. It established stores which eventually became department stores called Economy Stores. Economy Stores was to serve as the base for an enormous proliferation of enterprises in the post-War years. When the recession of 1931-33 led to closure of mining operations, the Susman brothers sent Maurice, to "work in their businesses and to oversee the liquidation of some of their assets affected by the recession."Harry Gersh joined his brother on the copperbelt in 1930 and setup a store at Nchanga. He later moved to Nkana and set up another one there also. Elie Susman helped his nephews to start up and setup stores by identifying the sites to build them between 1935 to 1936. Maurice Gersh played a leading role in negotiations with the Northern Rhodesian government, with the set-up on a new town near Nkana, called Kitwe
Kitwe
Kitwe is the second largest city in terms of size and population in Zambia. With a population of 547,700 Kitwe is one of the most developed commercial and industrial areas in the nation, alongside Ndola and Lusaka...
.
It was as the recovery from the Depression in Northern Rhodesia and South Africa was nearing its completion that the Susman brothers made their most momentous new investment. In December 1934, they agreed to take a share in a new business in South Africa called "Woolworth". Their partner was Max Sonnerberg; Max bought a departmental store in Cape town in 1929, changed its name to "Woolworth" in 1931 and started growing in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. There was no relationship with the F.W. Woolworth chain in the United Kingdom, but Max benefitted from the similar names. From 1930 onwards, Elie Susman began to spend half the year with his wife and family at the house in Beach Street, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, which he had built, calling this house "Barotse
Barotse Floodplain
The Barotse Floodplain also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain is one of Africa's great wetlands, on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia...
".
An agreement was concluded in December 1934 in which Susman Brothers invested $25,000 in Woolworth
Woolworths (South Africa)
Woolworths Holdings Limited is a South African chain of retail stores and one of the largest in the country, modeled on Marks & Spencer of the United Kingdom . This relationship with Britain's Marks and Spencer was formed after the Second World War, which led to the retailer buying all of the...
and took shares in the business. Susman Brothers invested over $50,000 in Woolworth in the next two years. They financed this large investment through an overdraft from their account at Standard Chartered. Elie Susman moved his family from Cape Town to Johannesburg and became a director in June 1935. Max Sonnenberg controlled Cape Town stores, and Elie Susman controlled Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
stores which included Johannesburg. Woolworth was formally launched as a public company in 1935. Elie Susman was 55 years old when he began to work on a more or less full-time basis for Woolworths.
1940s
Although Harry Susman was never involved in the management of Woolworth, he enjoyed Elie Susman's half-share of his Woolworth salary, until 1941, when Harry officially wrote to release his brother from this obligation.In the 1940s, the brothers took on a partner, Harry Wulfsohn
Harry Wulfsohn
Harry Wulfsohn was a partner in Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn. He was born on 10 March 1911 in what was then the Russian province of Courland, now part of Latvia. In 1929, when he was eighteen years old, Harry's aunt invited him to travel to South Africa with his sister Marlie. Harry worked for some...
, to expand and redevelop their business interest in Northern Rhodesia. Their trading business began during the scramble for Africa and the heyday of Imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, coming through the colonial period to the ill-fated federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Nyasaland
Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a British protectorate located in Africa, which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Since 1964, it has been known as Malawi....
. The business went through the triumph of African nationalism and survived into the era of emerging market and liberatisation. In a meeting in February 1946, it was agreed that the company should apply to the government for permission to change its name from "Harry Wulfsohn Limited" to "Susman Brothers and Wulfsohn Limited". In complex negotiations with Harry Susman, Harry Wulfsohn set up this new company, with a fifty-fifty shareholding with the Susman brothers in the new company. Most of the negotiations also involved Elie Susman when he visited Livingstone.
Harry Susman remained the main representative of the Susman family business in Livingstone, until his retirement in 1945. A few months before the end of the Second World War, Harry Susman left Livingstone
Livingstone, Zambia
Livingstone or Maramba is a historic colonial city and present capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls lying north of the Zambezi River, and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Falls...
and settled on a farm, Umritsor, near Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
.
1950s
Harry Susman continued to visit Northern Rhodesia regularly until his death in January 1952. He lived long enough to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the brothers' first crossing of the ZambeziZambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
river, in April 1951, but sadly he did not live to witness the unveiling of the four-faced town clock that they donated to the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum
Livingstone Museum
The Livingstone Museum, formerly David Livingstone Memorial Museum and Rhodes-Livingstone Museum, is the largest and the oldest museum in Zambia, located in Livingstone near Victoria Falls...
, to commemorate that event.
Until his own death in January 1958, there was never any doubt that Elie Susman was, in spite of his absence in South Africa for the most of the year, the senior partner and dominant personality in the business. He was the chairman of both main companies where Harry was a partner. Elie Susman was not prepared to take a secondary role in his businesses until the mid 1950s when his own son David Susman began to take over.