View source for C. Bai Lihme

{{infobox person
| name        =
| image       =
| caption     =
| birth_name  = Christian Bai Lihme
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1866|05|24}}
| birth_place = [[Aalborg]], [[Denmark]]
| death_date  = {{dda|1946|10|15|1866|03|24}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| alma_mater  = [[University of Copenhagen]]<br>[[University of Heidelberg]]
| parents     = Herman Rehling Lihme<br>Hermantine Moser Lihme
| spouse      = {{marriage|Olga Hegeler|1901}}
| children    = 4, including [[Anita Lihme]]
| relations   = [[Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz]] (grandson)
}}
'''Christian Bai Lihme''' (May 24, 1866 – October 15, 1946)<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/> was a Danish-born naturalized American chemist, industrialist, and art collector.
==Early life==
Lihme was born in [[Aalborg]], [[Denmark]] on May 24, 1866.  He was the son of Herman Rehling Lihme (1819–1890) and, his second wife, Hermantine Adolphine ([[née]] Moser) Lihme (b. 1836).<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/>
After attending the Aalborg Latin School, he went to the [[University of Copenhagen]], where he specialized in chemistry and graduated in 1888, followed by studies at the [[Freiberg University of Mining and Technology|School of Mines at Freiberg]], [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]].<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/>
==Career==
After graduating from University in 1888, Lihme came to the [[United States]] and became the chief chemist of the Pennsylvania Lead Company of Pittsburgh, a position he held until 1893.  He moved to Germany where he studied at the [[University of Heidelberg]], returning to the U.S. in 1895 to become superintendent of the Illinois Zinc Company in [[Peru, Illinois]] and founded the Lihme Zinc Company.<ref>{{cite book |title=Baltic and Scandinavian Countries |date=1938 |publisher=Baltic Institute |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OIYXAQAAMAAJ |accessdate=22 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  In 1910, Lihme succeeded his father-in-law, [[Edward C. Hegeler]], as president of the Matthissen & Hegeler Zinc Company of [[LaSalle, Illinois]], founded by Hegeler and [[Frederick William Matthiessen]] in 1858.<ref name="nycago">{{cite web |title=C. Bai Lihme Residence - New York City |url=http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/ResLihmeCB.html |website=www.nycago.org |publisher=[[American Guild of Organists|NYC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists]] |accessdate=22 July 2019}}</ref>  Lihme, who had been secretary and vice-president before becoming president, retired in 1921.<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/>
He also served as a director of several banks and mining corporations including the Hill State Bank of Chicago, the Equitable Trust Company of Chicago, Whiting & Co. of Chicago, the Quapaw Mining Corporation of Delaware, and the Mamarack Mining Company of Montana.<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/>
==Personal life==
In 1901, Lihme married the Olga Hegeler (1878–1956), the youngest daughter of [[Edward C. Hegeler]], a pioneer [[zinc]] smelter who had been born in Germany.<ref name="MrsLihmeObit1956"/> Together, the couple were the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters:
* Olga Lihme (1902–1955), who married Clement Acton Griscom III (1899–1983), a grandson of [[Clement Griscom]].<ref name="1922Engagement">{{cite news |title=MISS LIHME TO WED CLEMENT A. GRISCOM; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Bai Lihme Engaged--Admiral Fletcher's Daughter to Marry. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/12/30/102911340.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 December 1922}}</ref>
* [[Anita Lihme]] (1903–1976), who married Prince Edward Joseph Lobkowicz (1899-1959), son of Prince August Lobkowicz (1862-1921), Privy Counselor and Lord Chamberlain to [[Emperor Franz Josef]], and Countess Mária 'Irma' Pálffy de Erdőd (1866-1950), former Countess Palermy, of Bohemia, was a lady-in-waiting to the Austrian Court.<ref name="1925Wedding">{{cite news |title=Marriage of Miss Lihme and Prince Lobkowicz |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/08/23/119052432.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 August 1925}}</ref>
* Harold Hegeler Lihme (1907–1964), who married Barbara Wall.<ref name="1941Engagement">{{cite news |title=Troth of Barbara Wall, Chapln Graduate, To Harold Hegeler Lihme Is Announced |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/01/29/85313109.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 1941}}</ref><ref name="1941Nuptials">{{cite news |title=NUPTIALS PLANNED OF BARBARA WALL; Will Be Wed Saturday to Harold Lihme in Church Here |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/04/15/85480547.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 April 1941}}</ref> They divorced and he remarried to the former Princess Jane Wheeler (née Irby) [[Obolensky]] (1914–1981), the former wife of [[Prince Alexis Obolensky]], in 1953.<ref name="1953Wedding">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Jane Obolensky Weds Harold H. Lihme Sunday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29255021/mrs_jane_obolensky_weds_harold_h/ |accessdate=7 March 2019 |work=[[The Palm Beach Post]] |date=2 November 1953 |pages=6}}</ref>  His second marriage also ended in divorce.<ref name="1964Obit">{{cite news |title=Harold Hegeler Lihme |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/07/archives/harold-hegeler-lihme.html |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 December 1964}}</ref>
* Edward Hegeler Lihme (1910–1999)<ref name="EHLObit1999">{{cite news |title=Paid Notice: Deaths LIHME, EDWARD H. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/14/classified/paid-notice-deaths-lihme-edward-h.html |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 September 1999}}</ref>
He was a member of the [[Metropolitan Club (New York City)|Metropolitan Club]], the River Club and [[The Union League Club]]s of New York.<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/>
After a long illness, Lihme died at his home at 950 [[Fifth Avenue]] on October 15, 1946.<ref name="LihmeObit1946">{{cite news |title=BAI LIHME DIES; RETIRED CHEMIST; Former Head of Zinc Company in Illinois--Made Hobby of Collecting Classic Art Art Objects Wrecked Official of Many Firms |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/10/16/107146552.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 October 1946}}</ref> He was buried at River Bend Cemetery in [[Westerly, Rhode Island]].  His widow died from a heart attack at their home in [[Palm Beach, Florida]] on November 9, 1956.<ref name="MrsLihmeObit1956">{{cite news |title=Mrs. C. Bai Lihme |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/11/10/86700688.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 November 1956}}</ref>
===Art collection===
[[File:Anthony van Dyck - Retrato da Marquesa Lomellini, com os Filhos em Oração, c. 1623.jpg|thumb|right|"Portrait of the Marchesa Lomellini" by [[Anthony van Dyck]], {{Circa|1623}}.]]
Following his 1921 retirement, Lihme began acquiring [[Tapestry|Flemish tapestries]], porcelain and glassware, and notable artworks, including a number of paintings by internationally known artists as [[Peter Paul Rubens]] ("The Portrait of an Old Man"), [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot]], [[Cornelius Johnson (artist)|Van Ceulen]], [[Rembrandt]] and others.  In 1925, Lihme purchased "Portrait of the Marchesa Lomellini" for a reported sum of $200,000. The painting was one of seven famous works by [[Antony van Dyck]] that had hung for centuries in the [[Adorno family|Cattaneo Palace]] in [[Genoa]].<ref name="1925VanDyck">{{cite news |title=C. BAI LIHME BUYS A FAMOUS VAN DYCK; New Collector Believed to Have Paid $200,000 for |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/02/26/98816089.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 February 1925}}</ref> In 1927, an elevator operator at his New York residence "wrecked the interior of his apartment, including many of its art objects, because he thought he was entitled to a bonus."<ref name="1927Wrecker">{{cite news |title=ART WRECKER SAYS HE SOU6HT REVENGE; Pleads Guilty to Damaging Objects Worth $300,000 in Home of C. Bai Lihme. TRIES TO CLEAR COMPANION Raid Laid to Anger Over Failure to Get Bonus -- Both Sent to Tombs, One for Sentence Aug. 9. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/08/02/98415931.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 August 1927}}</ref>
===Residences===
The Lihmes lived in Chicago before moving to New York City where they first lived at 280 [[Park Avenue]], at the corner of [[48th Street (Manhattan)|48th Street]].  Around 1927, the family moved uptown to a triplex apartment at 950 Fifth Avenue, on the northeast corner of [[76th Street (Manhattan)|76th Street]].  950 Fifth Avenue, which overlooked [[Central Park]], was a fourteen-story building designed by [[James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr.]], and completed in January 1927 in the [[Palazzo style architecture|Italian-Renaissance palazzo-style]].<ref name="nycago"/>
In 1916, Lihme acquired "Norman Hall", the former "cottage" of William W. Lawrence (a vice president of the [[National Lead Company]]) located at [[Watch Hill, Rhode Island|Watch Hill]] near [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref name="AR1919">{{cite book |title=The Architectural Review |date=1919 |publisher=Bates, Kimball & Guild |page=149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNDmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA149 |accessdate=22 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>  The 10,000-square-foot stone house, later known as Lihme Castle, was completed in 1916, a month before Lawrence's death, and designed by New York architect [[Mott B. Schmidt]] and modeled after a French chateau.<ref>{{cite web |title=Norman Hall, later Stone House/Lihme Castle |url=https://www.ri.gov/preservation/search/view.php?idnumber=WESY00261 |website=www.ri.gov |publisher=State of Rhode Island {{!}} Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission |accessdate=22 July 2019}}</ref>  In the 1950s and 1960s, the Lihme's rented Norman Hall to [[Charles W. Engelhard Jr.]], chairman of Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals Inc.  In 1965, the Lihmes sold the cottage for $110,000 to the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]] of [[Chambéry]] as a retreat house.<ref name="Schultz">{{cite web |last1=Schultz |first1=Frances |title=Historic Watch Hill Mansion |url=https://www.veranda.com/decorating-ideas/g981/watch-hill-rhode-island-historic-mansion/ |website=Veranda.com |accessdate=22 July 2019 |date=28 August 2013}}</ref>
The Lihme family also owned a large oceanfront winter home in [[Palm Beach, Florida]],<ref name="LihmeObit1946"/> located at [[South Palm Beach, Florida|South Ocean Boulevard]] and County Road and designed by society architect [[Addison Mizner]].<ref name="Curl1987">{{cite book |last1=Curl |first1=Donald Walter |title=Mizner's Florida: American Resort Architecture |date=1987 |publisher=Architectural History Foundation |isbn=9780262530682 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eNhPAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=22 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
===Descendants===
Through his daughter, Princess Edward Joseph de Lobkowicz, he was the grandfather of three: [[Prince Edouard de Lobkowicz]] (1926–2010), who married [[Princess Marie-Françoise of Bourbon-Parma]], the eldest daughter of [[Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma]] and of his wife, [[Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset]];<ref name="1959Engagement">{{cite news |title=Prince, Princess Will Be Married In Paris on Jan. 7; Edward de Lobkowicz Fiance of Francoise of Bourbon-Parma |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/12/14/102303390.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 December 1959}}</ref><ref name="1960Wedding">{{cite news |title=Princess, Prince Wed in Cathedral Of Notre Dame; Francoise of Bourbon- Parma and Edward de Lobkowicz Married |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/01/08/99336282.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=8 January 1960}}</ref> Prince George Christian de Lobkowicz (1928–1950),<ref>{{cite news |title=A Son to Princess Lobkowicz. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/11/12/95651043.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=12 November 1928}}</ref> who died unmarried at age twenty-one;<ref name="GCLObit1950">{{cite news |title=GEORGE C. LOBKOWICZ |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/08/26/91633344.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 August 1950}}</ref> and Princess Anita Olga  de Lobkowicz (b. 1937), who married Count Charles-Louis de Cossé-Brissac, a son of the Marquis de Cossé, in the fall of 1958.<ref name="1958Engagement">{{cite news |title=Count to Marry Miss Lobkowicz, 1955 Debutante; Charles Louis de Cosse Brissac and Daughter of Prince Engaged |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/07/24/80784126.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 July 1958}}</ref><ref name="1958Wedding">{{cite news |title=Comte Brissac, New York Girl Wed in France; Veteran of French Army Marries Miss Anita Olga de Lobkowiczs |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/09/21/91407788.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 September 1958}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [http://ao.salldata.dk/osd_vis.php?bsid=356533&side=29 Birth Register 1864-1873, Aalborg Budolfi Parish, Denmark]
* {{fg|188394100|Christian Bai Lihme}}
* [http://halfpuddinghalfsauce.blogspot.com/2014/08/stone-house-aka-norman-hall-watch-hill.html "Stone House" AKA "Norman Hall" Watch Hill, Rhode Island]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lihme, C. Bai}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Copenhagen alumni]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Aalborg]]
[[Category:Danish emigrants to the United States]]