Drexel, Anthony Joseph, 1826-93, American banker and philanthropist, b. Philadelphia. He entered (1838) at an early age the well-known banking firm of Drexel and Company, founded by his father, Francis Martin Drexel, an Austrian immigrant. Anthony became a partner, and later under his dominant leadership the firm expanded extensively. Drexel Institute (now Drexel Univ.), opened in 1892, was the most important of his many philanthropies.

(born Sept. 13, 1826, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died June 30, 1893, Carlsbad, Bohemia) U.S. banker and philanthropist. He and his brothers inherited his father's Philadelphia banking house and built it into a successful investment-banking concern, specializing in flotation of government bonds, railroad organization, mining development, and urban real estate. In 1891 he founded the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry, now Drexel University. He was the uncle of St. Katherine Drexel.

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Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle I (October 1, 1874 - 1948) also known as Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr. was the man upon whom the play and film The Happiest Millionaire was based.

Biography

He married Cordelia Rundell Bradley. His daughter, Cordelia Biddle, married Angier Buchanan Duke, the son of Benjamin Newton Duke. His son was Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.. Biddle was an expert in close quarter fighting and the author of Do or Die: A Supplementary Manual on Individual Combat, a book on combat methods, including knives and empty hand skills.

Authored

• The Madeira Islands, published by Philadelphia, Drexel, Biddle & Bradley Pub. Co., 1896.
• Shantytown Sketches, published by Philadelphia, Drexel, Biddle & Bradley Pub. Co., 1897.
• Do or Die: A Supplementary Manual on Individual Combat (1937) U.S. Marine Corps
• Word for Word and Letter for Letter; a biographical romance, published by Gay & Bird, 1989.

Lawsuit

• Biddle v. Irving Trust Company, 294 U.S. 708, 55 S.Ct. 405, 79 L.Ed. 1243 (1935)

Further reading

• Washington Post; August 17, 1933 "Helen Avis Howard Engaged To Anthony J. Drexel, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Clinton Howard, of Atlanta, have announced the engagement of their daughter. Miss Helen Avis Howard, to Mr. Anthony Joseph Drexel 3d, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Joseph Drexel, jr., of Philadelphia."
• Time (magazine); June 4, 1948 "Died. Colonel Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr., 73, muscular Christian, father of the wartime ambassador to the governments in exile; following a cerebral hemorrhage; in Syosset, N.Y. He founded the Drexel Biddle Bible Classes in 1907 (their curriculum of fighting-&-praying ultimately attracted 200,000 members), taught jujitsu and dirty fighting to Marines in both World War."
• New York Times; October 14, 2004 "Nicholas Duke Biddle, 83, Scion Of Wealth Who Helped the Poor. Nicholas Duke Biddle, scion of two prominent American families who helped refugees from Cuba and Caribbean, dies at age 83. Mr. Biddle was originally named Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle III, after his father, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr., a prominent diplomat."

External links

• Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, USMC CQB Pioneer — biography of Biddle from Journal of Non-Lethal Combatives

References