Name Samuel Fels | ||
Died 1950, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Organizations founded Fels Institute of Government | ||
Samuel Simeon Fels (February 16, 1860 in Yanceyville, North Carolina – June 23, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Early in Samuel's life his family relocated to Philadelphia, where Samuel's older brother Joseph Fels founded a soap manufacturing company, Fels & Co., which found success with the product Fels-Naptha. Samuel became the company's first president, a post he held until his death.
An active philanthropist, in 1936, Fels established the Samuel S. Fels Fund, which provides support to Philadelphia-area non-profit organizations, even today. Fels also founded the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. Fels is known for commissioning Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto Op. 14 in 1939.