Paul Felix Warburg (October 6 1904 – October 8 1965) was an American banker, military officer, and philanthropist from New York City. He was a member of the prominent Warburg family of financiers and the grandson of Jacob Schiff, a leading Jewish-American philanthropist.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Warburg was the son of banker Felix M. Warburg and philanthropist Frieda Schiff. He attended the Lincoln School of Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, graduating from the latter in 1921.
Business career
After completing his education, Warburg held early positions with Central Hudson Gas & Electric (1921‑1922), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (1922‑1925), and the North American Company (1925‑1926). In 1929 he became assistant vice‑president of the International Acceptance Trust Company, which later merged with the Bank of Manhattan Company. He was appointed vice‑president of the Bank of Manhattan in 1931.
In 1940 he joined the securities firm J. S. Bache & Co. as a general partner, leaving the firm in 1944. Post‑World II, he served as a special assistant to U.S. ambassadors W. Averell Harriman and Lewis W. Douglas at the American Embassy in London until 1950. From 1952 until his death, he maintained an office with the investment‑banking firm Loeb, Rhoades & Co., overseeing the family’s philanthropic foundations, including the Mr. and Mrs. Paul Felix Warburg Fund.
Military service
During World War II, Warburg enlisted in the United States Army. He was commissioned a captain in the Army Specialist Corps, later promoted to lieutenant colonel. He participated in the 1942 Operation Torch landings in Casablanca, served in intelligence (G‑2) roles, and acted as a liaison officer at Allied Force Headquarters in Algiers. In 1944 he was transferred to Paris, where he worked with the State Department on embassy matters. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and received the French Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour for his service.
Philanthropy and civic involvement
Warburg was active in a wide range of charitable and civic organizations. He founded, presided over, and directed the Federation Employment Service of New York, and held directorships with the County Trust Company (White Plains), the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company, and the Westchester County Conservation Committee. His roles in Jewish and humanitarian causes included:
- Secretary (1930) and later chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Association of the Blind (1932)
- Vice‑president of the National Jewish Hospital (Denver)
- Leadership positions with the German Jewish Children’s Aid, the National Coordinating Committee for Aid to Refugees and Immigrants from Germany, the Boy Scouts of America, Project HOPE, the Greater New York Fund, the National Refugee Service, and the American Jewish Committee
- Involvement with numerous social clubs and the English‑Speaking Union
He also participated in Republican political activities, serving as a director of the United Republican Finance Committee, a finance chairman for John V. Lindsay’s congressional campaigns, and head of the New York State Citizens for Eisenhower‑Nixon in 1952.
Personal life
Warburg married three times. His first marriage in 1926 to Jean Stettheimer ended in divorce in 1934; they had two daughters, Felicia and Jill. He married Muriel Constance Woodworth Hart in 1939 and later Barbara Tapper (Baroness D’Almeida Santos) in 1949.
Death
Paul F. Warburg died of a heart attack at New York Hospital on October 8 1965, aged 61. His funeral was held at Temple Emanu‑El in New York City.
Legacy
Warburg’s career spanned finance, military service, and extensive philanthropic work, reflecting the broader civic engagement of the Warburg family in 20th‑century American society. His contributions to charitable organizations, particularly those assisting refugees and the visually impaired, and his wartime service, remain noted aspects of his public legacy.