View source for Louis Rothman

'''Louis Rothman''' (1869–1926) was the founder of [[Rothmans International]], one of the [[United Kingdom]]'s largest tobacco businesses.

==Career==
Apprenticed at the age of fourteen to an uncle's tobacco factory near [[Kiev]] in [[Ukraine]], Louis Rothman emigrated to the [[United Kingdom]] with very little money in 1887.<ref name=funding>[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Rothmans-UK-Holdings-Limited-Company-History.html Rothmans International at Funding Universe]</ref>

He started to earn his living in London as a hand made cigarette maker and then used the money that he had saved to set up his own business selling cigarettes, which he rolled himself.<ref name=funding/>

In 1893, he married Jane Weiner and at about the same time opened a small kiosk at 55a Fleet Street (reputed to have been the smallest shop in the City of London) from where he sold the cigarettes he had rolled the previous night.<ref>[http://knowledgeoflondon.com/sweeny.html Knowledge of London]</ref>

'Among his customers were the [[Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere|Lords Rothermere]] and [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe|Northcliffe]] and Sir James Wilcox.  The business of this little shop grew until, in a comparatively short time there were six Rothman shops in the city.'<ref>Obituary: Tobacco January 1st 1927 p.97</ref> He subsequently opened a number of other shops in the City and in about 1902 rented a half shop in the West End of London (5a Pall Mall). This was marked by the launch of the Pall Mall brand of cigarettes. After the [[World War I|First World War]] had ended, he had to use the name  ''Rothmans of Pall Mall'' to distinguish his business from a shop in Regent Street that had been started by his brother, Marx, and subsequently sold to someone else.<ref name=funding/>

In 1912 or 1913, Louis merged his business with that of Markus Weinberg to form the [[Yenidje Tobacco Company Limited]].<ref name=funding/>  As a result of a disagreement between the two owners, the arrangement was dissolved in 1916.<ref name=funding/>

In 1919, Louis went into partnership with his son, Sydney.  In 1922, they started to sell cigarettes by mail order through the Rothman's Direct-to-Smoker service. Overseas demand also expanded and taking advantage of incentives from the [[United Kingdom|UK]] Government to promote the importing of tobacco from [[British Commonwealth]] countries, they expanded the business into an international concern.<ref name=funding/>

A lifelong smoker, Louis Rothman died in 1926 of [[lung cancer]].<ref name=funding/>

==References==
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[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:English Jews]]
[[Category:Ukrainian-Jewish emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tobacco in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British company founders]]