Anton Philips

Anton Frederik Philips (March 14, 1874, Zaltbommel, Gelderland – October 7, 1951, Eindhoven) co-founded Royal Philips Electronics N.V. in 1912 with his older brother Gerard Philips in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He served as CEO of the company from 1922 to 1939.

Early life and education

Anton was born to Maria Heyligers (1836 – 1921) and Benjamin Frederik David Philips (December 1, 1830 – June 12, 1900). His father was active in the tobacco business and a banker at Zaltbommel in the Netherlands. (He was a first cousin to Karl Marx.) Anton's brother Gerard was 16 years older.

Career

In May 1891 the father Frederik was the financier and, with his son Gerard Philips, co-founder of the Philips Company as a family business. In 1912 Anton joined the firm, which they named Royal Philips Electronics N.V.

During World War I, Anton Philips managed to increase sales by taking advantage of a boycott of German goods in several countries. He provided the markets with alternative products.

Anton (and his brother Gerard) are remembered as being civic-minded. In Eindhoven they supported education and social programs and facilities, such as the soccer department of the Philips Sports Association as the best-known example.

Anton Philips brought his son Frits Philips and grandson Franz Otten into the company in their times. Anton took the young Franz Otten with him and other family members to escape the Netherlands just before the Nazi Occupation during World War II; they went to the United States. They returned after the war.

His son Frits Philips chose to stay and manage the company during the occupation; he survived several months at the concentration camp of Vught after his workers went on strike. He saved the lives of 382 Jews by claiming them as indispensable to his factory, and thus helped them evade Nazi roundups and deportation to concentration camps.

Philips died in Eindhoven in 1951.

Marriage and family

Philips married Anne Henriëtte Elisabeth Maria de Jongh (Amersfoort, May 30, 1878 – Eindhoven, March 7, 1970). They had the following children:

• Anna Elisabeth Cornelia Philips (June 19, 1899 – ?), married in 1925 to Pieter Franciscus Sylvester Otten (1895 – 1969), and had:
  • Diek Otten
  • Franz Otten (b. c. 1928 - d. 1967), manager in the Dutch electronics company Philips
• Frederik Jacques Philips (1905-2005)
• Henriëtte Anna Philips (Eindhoven, October 26, 1906 – ?), married firstly to A. Knappert (d. 1932), without issue; married secondly to G. Jonkheer Sandberg (d. September 5, 1935), without issue; and married thirdly in New York City, New York, on September 29, 1938 to Jonkheer Gerrit van Riemsdijk (Aerdenhout, January 10, 1911 – Eindhoven, November 8, 2005). They had the following children:
  • ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, October 2, 1939), married at Waalre on February 17, 1968 to Johannes Jasper Tuijt (b. Atjeh, Koeta Radja, March 10, 1930), son of Jacobus Tuijt and wife Hedwig Jager, without issue
  • ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, April 3, 1946), married firstly at Calvados, Falaise, on June 6, 1974 to Martinus Jan Petrus Vermooten (Utrecht, September 16, 1939 – Falaise, August 29, 1978), son of Martinus Vermooten and wife Anna Pieternella Hendrika Kwantes, without issue; married secondly in Paris on December 12, 1981 to Jean Yves Louis Bedos (Calvados, Rémy, January 9, 1947 – Calvados, Lisieux, October 5, 1982), son of Georges Charles Bedos and wife Henriette Louise Piel, without issue; and married thirdly at Manche, Sartilly, on September 21, 1985 to Arnaud Evain (b. Ardennes, Sedan, July 7, 1952), son of Jean Claude Evain and wife Flore Halleux, without issue
  • ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, September 4, 1948), married at Waalre, October 28, 1972 to Elie Johan François van Dissel (b. Eindhoven, October 9, 1948), son of Willem Pieter Jacob van Dissel and wife Francisca Frederike Marie Wirtz, without issue

External links

• Anton Philips (1874-1951) (Dutch)

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