Albert Kahn

Albert Kahn, born Abraham Kahn in Marmoutier, Bas-Rhin, France, was a French banker and philanthropist. Kahn studied at the Collège de Saverne from 1873 to 1876. In 1879, Kahn became a bank clerk in Paris but studied for a degree in the evenings. He graduated in 1881 and continued to mix in intellectual circles, making friends with Auguste Rodin and Mathurin Méheut. In 1892, Kahn became a principal associate of the Goudchaux Bank, which was then regarded as one of the most important financial houses in Europe. He also promoted higher education through travel scholarships.

Kahn was known for initiating The Archives of the Planet, a vast photographical project that was the result of the work of photographers recruited by Kahn and sent to more than fifty countries to record the everyday lives of the inhabitants of the planet. Spanning 22 years (between 1909 and 1931), the project resulted in a collection of 72,000 colour photographs and 183,000 metres of film. According to Kahn, the purpose of The Archives of the Planet is to account for “the aspects and the practices of human activity which will inevitably disappear over time.” The economic crisis of the Great Depression ruined Kahn and put an end to his project.

Kahn created Les Jardins du Monde, (The Gardens of the World). In 1893, Kahn acquired a large property in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, where he established this unique garden that ultimately became a meeting place for French and European intelligentsia until the 1930s when Kahn became bankrupt. At that time, the garden was turned into a public park in which Kahn would still take walks.

Sources: Wikipedia and Opendatasoft