Samuel Zemurray — business ("banana king") with roots in the Russian Empire
Samuel Zemurray was a Moldovan-born American businessman born in Kishinev (Bessarabia, Russian Empire) who became one of the most powerful men in Latin American history as the head of United Fruit Company. He personally financed a coup in Honduras in 1910 to protect his banana interests — and decades later turned United Fruit into a global empire.
Tracing the roots — Kishinev (Moldova)
Born in Kishinev (now Chisinau, Moldova) in 1877 — the same city made infamous by the brutal 1903 pogrom — Zemurray emigrated to the United States as a teenager. His rise from Kishinev poverty to the man who could overthrow Central American governments is one of the most extraordinary immigrant ascents in American business history.
.svg?width=900)
Kishinev (Moldova). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.