HELLMAN,

Francis Hellman , philanthropist and writer, daughter of Joseph and Babette (Steinhord) Seligman, was born in New York City, October 4, 1853. Her father, born in Germany, came to this country when he was but twenty years old, and for about forty years was prominent in financial, philanthropic, and educational circles. He founded the firm of J. and W. Seligman and Company, who were the fiscal agents for our Government during the Civil War; and was a close friend of Grant, Harrison and many other great men of that period. He was also one of the founders of the Ethical Culture School.

Mrs. Hellman was educated in New York City, except for four years of study in Germany. On March 7, 1872, she was married, in New York City, to Theodore Hellman, a banker, born in Munich, Germany. They are the parents of three children: Edith, now Mrs. George L. Beer (born in New Orleans, February 24, 1873); Edgar (born in New Orleans, January 15, 1875); and George (born in New York, November 14, 1879).

Mrs. Hellman has translated numerous German and French works into English, among them being Heine's Lyrics, Kinkel's [p.357] Tanagra, Anatole Levy-Beaulieu's Israel chez les Nations, and Jean Gérardy's Toi et Moi.

Mrs. Hellman is a member of the Ethical Culture Society, Women's Municipal League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Foreign Policy Association, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Charity Organization Society, and the American Red Cross. She is prominent in the community work conducted by the Ethical Culture Society, and also in the Society's Women's Conference.

The Biographical Cyclopaedia of American Women, Vol.1, p.356

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