Background
Eder was born in Goldingen in the Duchy of Courland in the Russian Empire. He was the son of Martin Sass Eder and Dorina Kaiser, and was the youngest of their seven children.
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James Eder
Edit ProfileEducation
He completed his education and after some work experience entered Harvard Law School in 1858.
Career
In 1861 he moved to San Francisco, and from there moved to the Colombian sea port of Buenaventura where he worked as a lawyer and a commercial representative for Panamanian trading firms when Panama was still part of Colombia. In 1864 he bought the Manuelita sugar and coffee farm near the city of Palmira in the Cauca Valley of Colombia. He bought this farm at a public auction in Cali from the father of leading Colombian novelist Jorge Isaacs.
In 1866 Eder became the consul of the United States in Buenaventura, as well as the vice-consul of Chile.
In 1901 Manuelita became the first Colombian sugar mill to move from mule to steam powered mills. As such, don Santiago became one of Colombia"s first industrialists.
He remained there until his death at 83 in 1921. Eder is buried at the Shearith Israel Cemetery in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.
After his death, the Manuelita sugar company saw further expansions in 1927 and 1939.
In 1952 under management of Harold Henry Eder, Santiago"s grandson, Manuelita became the first sugarcane mill in Colombia to make refined sugar. Under Santiago Eder"s great grandson Henry James Eder Manuelita started an international expansion, and today is one of Colombia"s leading agro/industrial companies with operations in Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Chile. The current president of Manuelita is Harold Eder Garcés, is don Santiago"s great-great-grandson and belongs to the fifth generation of the Eder Family in Colombia.
Much of Santiago Eder"s correspondence, mostly business related, but also dealing with the Colombian government and personal family matters, are preserved at the Phanor James Eder Collection at the University of Miami.
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Born
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Died
December 26, 1921 (aged 83)