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George Dornbusch
Austrian-British merchant, publisher and activist (1819–1873) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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George Dornbusch (12 August 1819 – 5 February 1873) was an Austrian-British merchant, publisher and activist. He was an early advocate for vegetarianism and veganism, and various other causes including abolitionism, anti-vaccination, temperance, women's suffrage and the peace movement.
Dornbusch was born near Trieste, the part of the Austrian Empire, in 1819 and moved to Hamburg at the age of seven. Adopting a strict vegan lifestyle in 1843, he relocated to London in 1845, where he married Johanna Wilhelmine Amalie the following year and had two children before their divorce in 1865; he married and had three further children with Emma Wallis. A prosperous merchant, Dornbusch operated a business on Threadneedle Street and published The Floating Cargoes Daily List from 1854 to 1873. Surviving a near-fatal stabbing in 1865, he became a leading member of the early vegetarian movement, co-founding the Vegetarian Society, and participating in many several societies for various causes. Dornbusch died from bronchitis in 1873 and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London.
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Early life
Georg Dornbusch[note 1] was born near Trieste, then part of the Austrian Empire, on 12 August 1819. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Hamburg, where he grew up. His father worked for the Swedish-Norwegian post office.[1]
Dornbusch became a vegan in 1843, "partaking neither of fish, flesh, fowl, butter, milk, cheese, or eggs, and abstaining also from the use of tea, coffee, intoxicating drinks, salt, and tobacco".[2] Francis William Newman also described him as abstaining from "every form of vegetable grease or oil, from the chief vegetable spices, such as pepper and ginger, and emphatically from salt."[3]
Career
Dornbusch moved to England from Hamburg in 1845, where he settled in London.[4] A prosperous merchant, Dornbusch operated a business on Threadneedle Street in the City of London. His business published The Floating Cargoes Daily List, a private daily trade list detailing the arrival of cargoes from across the globe;[5] the list was published from 1854 to 1873.[6] On 23 December 1865, a business rival attempted to murder him.[7] He suffered 23 stab wounds and although he recovered and returned to work; he was permanently disabled.[1]
Activism
Dornbusch became a leading member of the vegetarian movement in London.[4] He named his house "Vegetarian Cottage",[4] and was one of the first members of the Vegetarian Society.[8] Dornbusch served as its secretary[9] and as vice-president.[6]
Dornbusch served as treasurer of the Stop-the-War League[5] and was a member of the general committee of the Emancipation Society, along with John Stuart Mill.[4] Dornbusch was also involved with the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League[10] and the National Society for Women's Suffrage, serving on the central committee from 1871 to 1872.[4] Additionally, he became a Freemason and served as an alderman and a member of the Hackney vestry.[6]
Personal life and death
In December 1846, Dornbusch married Johanna Wilhelmine Amalie Siemers, the daughter of a Hamburg merchant. This marriage, which ended in divorce, in 1865, produced two children.[1] Dornbusch later married Emma Wallis, his former housekeeper,[note 2] and they had three children.[citation needed] In 1866, along with his daughter Ada, from his first marriage, and his second wife, he signed an 1866 petition for women's suffrage.[4]
Dornbusch was active in the spiritualism movement and was a Theosophist.[13]
Dornbusch died of bronchitis at his home in South Hackney on 5 February 1873, at the age of 53.[14] He was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London.[4] Dornbusch's great-great-grandson was the space scientist Kevin Beurle, a fifth-generation vegetarian.[15]
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Notes
- Dornbusch later changed his first name to George.
- The 1861 United Kingdom census lists Emma Wallis as employed as Dornbusch's housekeeper;[11] the 1871 census lists her as his wife.[12]
References
Further reading
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