American investment banker (1914–2004)
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Stephen M. Kellen (April 21, 1914-February 11, 2004) was a German-born American investment banker and philanthropist.
Stephen Max Katzenellenbogen was born in Berlin to a family of Jewish heritage,[1] where they had lived for five generations.[2] Katzenellenbogen attended the Französisches Gymnasium in Berlin [3] and then studied at a commercial institute.[4] Katzenellenbogen left Germany in 1936, fleeing the Nazis[1] and emigrating to London, where he worked for Lazard Brothers.[5] In 1937 he moved to New York City working at Loeb, Rhoades & Company[2] and anglicized his original surname to Kellen. In 1940 he married Ana-Maria Arnhold, daughter of the banker Hans Arnhold. She had emigrated from Germany in 1939; he had known and courted her in Wannsee.[3] In 1940 he joined her father’s firm, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder,[2] an international investment firm based in New York, now known as First Eagle Investment Management.[6] He was president from 1955 to 1994, and co-chairman of the board until his death.[2]
German reconstruction
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As early as 1946, he traveled to Berlin to find out the possibilities for support for reconstruction. He also organized the first post-war bonds for German companies such as Siemens or Hoechst in order to get the economy going.[5]
In March 1997, Kellen made a three million dollar founding grant[7] for the establishment of the American Academy in Berlin, which resides in his wife’s former parents’ 40 room villa in Berlin-Wannsee.[8]
Stephen and Anna-Maria Kellen were the force behind the transformation of Anna-Maria’s childhood home into the American Academy in Berlin. After being contacted by former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Holbrooke[9] and Professor Fritz Stern, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen immediately grasped the importance of America having a lasting presence in Berlin. The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and members of the Kellen-French family have remained the Academy’s chief benefactors since the institution opened its doors in 1998.[3]
Kellen was a patron of the arts and sponsored cultural events. His foundation supported guest performances by the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall and financed the restoration of the Heinrich Heine monument in New York, created in Berlin by Ernst Herter.[10]Other activities included the American Council on Germany, Council on Foreign Relations for 40 years,[11] Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, National Gallery of Art in Washington, Pierpont Morgan Library, Frick Collection, Lincoln Center and the New School University.[2]
Kellen and his wife started a charitable foundation in their names in 1984.[12] As of 2024 it had $1.1 billion in assets, focusing on “arts and culture, education, health, communication media, and religion, with a particular emphasis on Protestantism.”[13]
In 1991, Stephen M. Kellen received the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Stephen M. and Anna-Maria Kellen received the New York Order Spirit of the City in 1997 for their charitable work.[14] On May 6, 2002, Stephen M. Kellen received the Ernst Reuter Plaque for his special services to the city of Berlin.[5] In 2004 Kellen was awarded the Order of the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.[3]
Kellen was married for 64 years until his death, to Ana-Marie. They had a two children, Marina Kellen French, and Michael M., Kellen[2] After Kellen’s death his son has been president of the charitable foundation and his daughter vice-president. [15]
