Entrepreneur, lawyer Jewish Bronfman dies

Johannes Eisele / AFP - Getty ImagesEdgar Bronfman's wealth, combined with its role in the World Jewish Congress, a group of Jewish organizations in some 80 countries which ran for more than one quarter of a century, allowed him to be a tireless advocate of his fellow Jews.Edgar M. Bronfman Sr., the billionaire businessman and Senior President of the World Jewish Congress, who pressured the Soviets to allow Jews to emigrate and helped to spearhead the search for hidden Nazi loot, died Saturday. He was 84.The Canadian Bronfman died at his home in New York, surrounded by family, according to the family charity that led, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation.Bronfman made his fortune with of the family Empire liquor of Seagram, taking over as Chairman and CEO in 1971 and continues the work of his father, Samuel. Under the leadership of Bronfman, Seagram expanded its offerings and was eventually acquired by French media and telecommunications group Vivendi Universal in 2000.But the wealth of Bronfman, combined with its role in the World Jewish Congress, a group of Jewish organizations in some 80 countries which ran for more than one quarter of a century, allowed him to be a tireless advocate of his fellow Jews."He was the first of its kind, a Titan of industry who was fully devoted to advocating, advancing and encouraging the Jewish people," said Dana Raucher, executive director of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation.In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Bronfman the Presidential Medal of freedom, the highest civilian honor of the nation. In the citation, Bronfman was announced for work "to ensure basic rights for Jews around the world."In a profile of Associated Press 1986, said that his position and his money helped him gain access to world leaders."It's a combination of the two," said Bronfman. "In the end, no matter that access is available, while you're there."The previous year, it had become the first President of Congress to meet with Soviet officials in Moscow, taking his case to the human rights and taking a little time to promote interests of Seagram. He visited again in 1988, moment in which the Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, a key goal of the Congress, had begun to soar under the reformist leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev.During the Decade of 1980 and 1990, the Congress also helped to lead efforts to win $11 billion in restitution for heirs of Holocaust victims.Jews in German and Nazi-led out countries were stripped of their belongings, their works and even the fillings of gold teeth in the extermination camps of the regime.Much of the gold in Swiss banks and institutions suffered decades strong critical once the war ended for not making adequate reparations.In 1975, the Bronfman family made the news for a very different reason when one of the children of Edgar Bronfman, 2 º Samuel of 21 years of age, she was kidnapped in a suburb of New York.The family paid a ransom of $2.3 million and Samuel was found later when the authorities raided a Brooklyn apartment. The missing money was found under a bed and two men were arrested.The two were convicted of extortion, but acquitted of kidnapping, in a sensational trial of 1976 in which the Defense accused Samuel Bronfman of staging his own kidnapping as a trick to deceive his father to leave the rescue money. Samuel Bronfman, denied the accusation and the Prosecutor's Office the calls "ridiculous".-The Associated PressThis story was originally posted at 3:49 AM EST Sunday, December 22, 2013