Samuel Eleazer Kronenberg

Samuel Eleazer Kronenberg was the founder of the Kronenberg family of bankers and industrialists. Originally from Wyszogród, he later moved to Warsaw and founded the S. L. Kronenberg Bank. In Warsaw Kronenberg was influenced by the Haskalah and attended the “German” synagogue on Warsaw’s Daniłowiczowska Street.

In 1808 he broke with Jewish tradition, shaved his beard, and began to wear European-style clothing. He was on friendly terms with Poles from aristocratic families and was allowed to live outside the Jewish district. Kronenberg had 13 children of whom only eight survived, but only the eldest, Ludwik (1783–1882), remained Jewish and was committed to his father’s synagogue.