Paul Bonwit - Personal Life

Personal Life

Bonwit was born near Hanover, Germany, the son of Bernard Bonwit. At the age of 16, he moved to Paris, where he found work with a local export house as a clerk and continued his studies at night. In 1883, at age 21, he emigrated to the United States, locating at first in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he worked in a department store. He moved to New York for a job with Rothschild & Company, which was renamed Bonwit, Rothschild & Company when he later became a partner. He eventually settled in New York City. He married Sarah Woolf in 1893 and they had two sons.