ZIGMOND FINEBERG.
Under the name of Zigmond Fineberg & Sons is conducted a growing real-estate and brokerage business. Mr. Fineberg was born in March, 1863, in Poland, Russia, his parents being Moses Nathan and Agnes Fineberg, the former a merchant. Among his ancestors were rabbis, physicians and lawyers and capable business men. He pursued his education in Suvalk, Russia, and became a government roads contractor of that country.
Attracted by the opportunities of the new world, and prompted by laudable ambition to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic, Mr. Fineberg came to Canada, settling in Montreal, where he embarked in business as a clothing merchant in 1887. About seventeen years were devoted to that undertaking, years which brought him a substantial measure of success and led to his activities along still broader lines. It was in 1904 that he turned his attention to real estate, becoming a real-estate broker and finance agent, business being now conducted under the firm style of Z. Fineberg & Sons at No. 62 St. James Street. He is thoroughly informed concerning property values, knows the real estate that is upon the market and has himself been a large investor, not only in real estate, but in railway shares, so that his stocks and property holdings make him one of the prosperous citizens of Montreal. Moreover, in 1910, he founded the Montreal Free Loan Association, of which he is the president. He belongs to the Montreal Board of Trade and is connected with many institutions of a public nature, being formerly a director of the Baron de Hirsch Institute, a life governor of the Baron de Hirsch Institute, a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital, of the Hertzl Dispensary and of Mount Sinai Sanitarium. He likewise belongs to the Montreal Citizens’ Association. He is an ex-member and vice president of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, and he now holds membership in the McGill College Avenue Synagogue.
In his native city of Prenn in 1885, Mr. Fineberg was married to Miss Jennie Kirschberg, a daughter of the late Abraham Kirschberg. The children of this marriage are: Joseph, Nathan Samuel, Aaron Harry, Moe Newton, Agnes and Max. The second son has won the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Common Laws and is now engaged in the practice of the legal profession.
Mr. Fineberg has held the offices of justice of the peace and commissioner of the superior courts since 1903. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Odd Fellows society and the Canadian Order of Foresters, and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit underlying those organizations, recognizing the brotherhood of mankind and the obligations of mutual helpfulness and kindliness.
MATTHEW A. SAMMETT.
Matthew A. Sammett, one of the most competent electrical engineers in Canada, was born at Baku, Russia, on the 2d of November, 1872. He was educated in a technical school in his native land and in 1893, when a young man of twenty-one years, came to the new world. He continued his education by attendance at night schools for a time and afterward entered the University of California, where he pursued a four years’ course, which he completed by graduation with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1899. He immediately put his theoretical training to practical test and joined the staff of the General Electrical Company of Schenectady, New York, in which connection he obtained thorough familiarity with modern electrical machinery and general engineering practice. The ability which he displayed in that connection won him promotion to the engineering department and in that position he made a close study of the design of some of the alternating current machinery now in universal use. Each step in his career has been a forward one, and each change in his business connections has marked an advance. In 1902 he joined the engineering staff of the Lachine Rapids Hydraulic & Land Company and after its amalgamation with the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company was given charge of the testing department of the new organization, his work embracing the testing of the various kinds of electrical apparatus used in the transformation, control and measurement of electrical energy. He also designed a complete line of highly efficient transformers for lighting and power service.