Paul Hirsch

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/17/obituaries/paul-hirsch-78-head-of...

Paul Hirsch, 78, Head Of Large Philanthropy Published: June 17, 1993

Paul Hirsch, former director general of the Lampadia Foundation, the wealthiest philanthropy in southern South America, died on Monday in a hospital in Buenos Aires. Mr. Hirsch was 78.

The cause was abdominal cancer, said his niece, Prof. Andree Hayum.

Mr. Hirsch left his birthplace in Frankfurt in 1936 to work for Maurizio Hochschild, a legendary tin baron in Bolivia, and became chief executive of the Hochschild Mining Group at 32. He remained its top executive until the sale of its mines and industries in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru in 1984.

A year later, he supervised the transformation of the Hochschild organization into a charitable trust, the Lampadia Foundation, which takes its name from the classic Greek word for torch.

The foundation, which gives grants of $15 million to $20 million a year and operates through national foundations in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, is a substantial supporter of cultural, educational and social-service programs. Mr. Hirsch remained its director general until this year.

Mr. Hirsch, who was Jewish, fled Nazi Germany before finishing a university education. He attended Harvard College as a special student from 1981 to 1983.

Also surviving are his wife, the former Narcisa Heuser; a daughter, Andrea; two sons, Daniel and Claudio, all of Buenos Aires.