Maurice Kremer

Maurice Kremer (1824–1907) was an American businessman and civil servant.

Biography Kremer, who was Jewish, was born in Lorraine, France on January 18, 1824. He immigrated to the United States first to Memphis, Tennessee, then followed the California gold rush west across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific coast. He worked briefly with his cousins, Elie and Simon Lazard of Lazard Freres, in Sacramento and San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles in 1852. (Lazard and Kremer both married daughters of Joseph Newmark). In 1856, they formed Newmark, Kremer & Co. with his father-in-law, Joseph Newmark, and Newmark's nephews, Joseph P. Newmark and Harris Newmark. Together they all served on the Los Angeles City Council since its inception in 1850, and used their wealth to fund the streetcar system, the power distribution network, and the water distribution network. In 1859, he founded Turnverein and in 1860, he was co-founder of the French Benevolent Society. In 1880, he was named a Trustee of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles.

Kremer spoke English, Spanish, French, and German.