Max Rose

Max Rose (1873–August 21, 1951) was a Russian-born, South African businessman and ostrich farmer who became a leading figure in the Cape ostrich feather industry. He became known as the "ostrich feather king of South Africa."

Early life Max Rose was born to a large Jewish family in 1873 in Shavli (now Šiauliai), then part of the Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania). Along with some of his siblings, he immigrated to South Africa in 1890 at the age of 17, settling in the town of Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape.

Career Rose began as a feather buyer and later became an ostrich farmer. He acquired his first farm in Ladismith and studied the breeding and dietary habits of ostriches, notably planting and irrigating large tracts of lucerne (alfalfa) to feed them. He was one of the first farmers in the region to irrigate lucerne and shipped it by rail across South Africa to support the growing industry.

Rose studied ostrich breeding, feather development, and the birds’ life cycle, and local farmers consulted him about breeding and the feather trade. He studied ostrich behavior and development from hatching to old age. Rose was also well informed about international feather markets, and local farmers often consulted him during various phases of the industry's development.

The South African government appointed Rose to a commission of inquiry on the depressed state of the ostrich industry.

He was introduced to the British royal family during their 1947 visit to Oudtshoorn. Queen Elizabeth’s fashion interest in ostrich feathers was credited with partially reviving the feather trade.