Franz Dominic Grassi

Franz Dominic Grassi was a merchant in Leipzig who was of Italian descent. As a result of his extensive heritage given to the city, numerous monuments and buildings were constructed.

Life

He was born as son of Franz Josef Grassi and his wife Rossi née?The family originate from Lucca in central Italy and immigrated to Leipzig. After his commercial training and numerous trips abroad, he founded his own trading firm for Russian products, indigo dye and tropical fruits in Leipzig. After the death of his father in 1847, he operated mostly in the speculation and exchange business. After the death of his mother in 1854, he retired completely from active commercial life.
Grassi remained a unmarried all his life. He was a theater and horse lover, and therefore one of the founders of the Leipzig racing club. He also supported Leipzig citizens, who were in emergency situations. Grassi wad also popularly called "The Wood Sucker" because of his habit of chewing on a toothpick.

Legacy

Although Grassi largely considered in his testament even distant relatives, godchildren and servants, he left the city a fortune of 2.327 million Gold Mark. From this property numerous construction projects, parks and monuments have been supported, some of which were destroyed during World War II and the Mendebrunnen mention. Furthermore parts of the money was used for the erection of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal, and the statues of Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Posthumous Honors

Since 1883, street C of the southwestern development plan in the then newly created Musikviertel quarter in Leipzig has borne the name Grassistrasse, in honour of Franz Dominic Grassi.
Since 2002 the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Germany and the TU Chemnitz endow the "Franz Dominic Grassi Prize" for services to promote the German-Italian trade and economic.