Sigismund Neumann


Sir Sigismund Neumann was a mining magnate and financier on the Witwatersrand.

Youth

Neumann was the son of a German Jew, Gustav Neumann. In his late teens, he emigrated to South Africa to seek his fortune in the Kimberley diamond mines. He began as a diamond buyer for the firm V.A. & E.M. Littkie, but then moved to the Barberton gold fields and founded his own company when gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand.

First years on the Rand

His staff in Johannesburg included some of the most talented miners and technicians, including Charles Sydney Goldman, a man with extended experience in the mining industry; Henry Hames Friedlander, a member of the Johannesburg Reform Committee; William Daw, who in 1915 would become chairman of the Chamber of Mines; and Carl Hanau, who had an exceptional talent for futures speculation. Very soon--long before many competitors--they became aware of the great potential in deep shaft mining; S. Neumann & Kie grew so quickly that in the mid-1890s it was already one of the top ten mining companies on the Rand, controlling the New Modderfontein, Witwatersrand Deep, and Cloverfield mines, and owning a stake in Randfontein Deep and West Rand Consolidated.

After the Second Boer War

In the years immediately following the Second Boer War, Neumann's empire expanded into several Transvaal coal mines as well as even more large-scale gold mines. The Witbank Colliery in time became one of the world's largest coal mines, producing around 40 million tons a year in the early 1970s, almost two-thirds of the South Africa's entire yield.

Emigration to England

Neumann began to focus eventually on his own business interests in London. In 1910, he visited South Africa for the last time, after which he resigned his managing directorship from his remaining Transvaal businesses. By 1912, most of his financial interests in South Africa had already been taken over by other companies. In London, he established a flourishing commercial bank in partnership with Martin Lübeck, former manager of the London branch of the Dresdner Bank. The new firm, Neumann, Luebeck, & Kie, was responsible for financing many new South African mining companies. He was also a director of the African Banking Corporation and the London Joint Stock Company.

Last years

In London, Neumann retired to live in a large mansion on 146 Piccadilly and was often received by King Edward VII at the latter's deer park near Invercauld Castle, 2 km from Balmoral Castle. He also owned a second home in Newmarket.

Personal life

Neumann married Anna Allegra, daughter of Jacques Hakim of Alexandria, in 1890, and they had two sons and three daughters. His son Cecil Gustavus Jacques succeeded him as baronet of Cecil Lodge.