C.L. David

Christian Ludvig David (30 July 1878 – 18 April 1960) was a Danish lawyer and businessman. Key in defining the global scale of the world's largest facilities management company ISS A/S. His private art collection, The David Collection, based in two early-19th-century buildings in Kronprinsessegade in Copenhagen, was already opened to the public during his own life time. He is also remembered for presenting his lakeside summer residence Marienborg to the state as a summer retreat for the prime ministers of Denmark.

Early life and education The only son of Magdalene Juliane née Hagen (1840–1901) and Johannes Hage Christian David, a railway engineer (1837–1890), David and his two younger sisters were born into a well-to-do family in Copenhagen. Their great-grandfather was Joseph Nathan David (1758–1830), a Jewish wholesaler whose fortune had enabled his son Christian Georg Nathan David (1793–1874) to study to be an economist. Christian David converted to Christianity and became a member of the constitutional assembly, serving as Danish Minister of Finance between 1864 and 1865.

This stable financial background enabled David and his sisters to survive the early deaths of their parents. Schooled at the Metropolitanskolen (English: Metropolitan School), he received a degree in law from the University of Copenhagen in 1903''. Invited to invest post World War I, in the inter-war period David became chairman and drove the company forward by acquiring security companies in Norway and Sweden. and a collection of contemporary Danish art from the first half of the 20th century.

David had housed his collection in his two homes: a townhouse at Kronprinsessegade no. 30 in central Copenhagen and his country estate, Marienborg on Lake Bagsværd, which he bought in 1934.

On his return from Sweden, on 12 December 1945, the collection and his home in Copenhagen became an independent institution, the C. L. David Foundation and Collection. The actual opening was not until 1948, partly because David did not vacate the third floor until 1946, partly because the architect Ole Wanscher had to furnish a silver room on the same floor.

Death and legacy David died in Copenhagen on 18 April 1960. He was buried at Marienborg. At his request, the Marienborg country estate was willed to the Danish State, to be used as the summer residence of the country's prime or foreign minister. The State officially took over Marienborg in January 1962.

As he had never married or fathered children, David left his entire estate to the C. L. David Foundation and Collection. This secured the future of the art collection, and its free access to all. Since 1960, the exhibition space of the museum has increased significantly. The collections have continued to expand, particularly that of Islamic art, which is now the museum's largest collection, making it Scandinavia's largest collection of Islamic art and probably one of the most important in Europe. It now consists of 4,000 Islamic works of art, including c. 350 coins, presented in 20 sections divided chronologically. There are three special galleries, which concentrate on Islamic miniatures, calligraphy, and textiles.