Holocaust Survivor, Marketer, Art Collector Wunderman Dies
Submitted photo Severin Wunderman Noted watch industry figure Severin Wunderman died of a stroke on June 25, while on vacation in Nice, France.
Wunderman, a Holocaust survivor, was a self-made man, a renowned philanthropist and an art collector.
Among the causes he supported were Holocaust remembrance, medical research, and individual self-sufficiency.
Locally, Wunderman is best known for his former residence, a multi-level cliff-top home he built above Aliso Beach commonly called the Gucci house, so-called because of his success commercializing the license to market Gucci time pieces. He called the house Villa Camilla and lived there for 15 years before his departure for France about 10 years ago. Earlier in the '90s, Wunderman offered a portion of his Jean Cocteau collection for a museum in his former hometown, but was refused. Instead his donation was welcomed by Laguna Beach's sister city, Menton, France, which expects to open a Cocteau museum by 2010.
Born to Jewish parents in 1938 in Brussels, Belgium, Wunderman was able to evade capture by the Nazis with the aid of the Pere Bruno network. After World War II, he immigrated to Los Angeles and attended Fairfax High School.
A chance meeting with Aldo Gucci began a 25-year relationship that created a new business model for the watch industry. Carefully balancing luxury appeal and mass marketing, Wunderman was instrumental in turning Gucci Timepieces into a premier brand of the watch industry. In 2000, he purchased another watch company, Corum Timepieces, and resurrected it.
In addition to his business activities, Wunderman was an avid collector of 20th century art and had the world's largest collection of Jean Cocteau's works. That collection will be housed in a museum to be built in Menton, France, opening in 2010. Other notable artists in his collection included Dali, Magritte, and Botero. For his contributions to mankind, Wunderman was appointed Knight in the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by the President of the French Republic.
Wunderman had a unique approach to philanthropy that was guided by his personal ethos of giving back and encouraging others to do the same. He founded the Severin Wunderman Family Foundation and the Severin Wunderman Museum. The causes he championed included medical research at UCLA and the British Lung Foundation, as well as the Children of the Shoah.
He was an avid fisherman and hunter, dog lover, antique collector, and movie connoisseur.
Severin Wunderman was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, and mentor to many. He is survived by his brother, Max; his sons, Nathan and Micheal; and his daughters, Deborah, Raphaelle, and Elisabeth.
In lieu of flowers, donations to a charity of your choice are requested. A memorial service was to be held at noon on July 3 at Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Burbank.
"Having been so fortunate, I have always felt inclined to assist others and encourage those around me to do the same."
