Herbert Felix was a Swedish entrepreneur of Austrian-Jewish descent and the founder of the food companies Bachelor of Arts Felix and Felix Austria.
Background
Herbert Felix was born in an Austrian-Jewish business family in the town of Znojmo, then part of Austria-Hungary (after World War I a part of Czechoslovakia and since 1992 of the Czechoslovakian Republic). He started working for the family company Löw & Felix, which was known for its type of Znaimer Gurken cucumbers, and Herbert Felix was trained to become his father"s successor as the company"s Chief Executive Officer.
Career
He was responsible for the company"s export and as such got the opportunity to travel around in Europe. In 1938, Herbert Felix decided to leave Czechoslovakia following the annexation of Sudetenland by Nazi Germany. He came as a refugee to Sweden and in 1939 he started working for the company Bachelor of Arts P. Håkansson in Eslöv.
The activity was first run as a part of Bachelor of Arts P. Håkansson, which through its cooperation with Felix could find an outlet for its surplus of vinegar in the factory.
The success came in the early 1940s and the name "Felix" was started to be used by Bachelor of Arts P. Håkansson as its trademark. During World World War II, Herbert Felix fought as a volunteer in the Czechoslovakian exiled forces and made unsuccessful efforts to save his family from the Holocaust.
He joined as an officer in the Czechoslovakian forces in Britain and participated in the Allies" war in France. In the end of the war, he came with the United States. forces to Czechoslovakia where he became ultimately aware of his family"s fate.
After the war, Herbert Felix returned to Eslöv to continue to develop the company, which he purchased together with the chairman of the board in 1948.
Under his leadership, the company introduced classical Swedish food products such as bostongurka, cucumber for sandwiches and ketchup in plastic bottles. The canned food department of the company was named Felix in 1955. The new company became known as Felix Austria.
Due to economic difficulties, in 1961 Herbert Felix sold 80% of his holdings in the company to Svenska Sockerfabriks Bachelor of Arts (Social Security Administration, Sockerbolaget) and the rest in 1964.
Herbert Felix died in Torekov, Sweden in 1973.