Leonardo Farkas
{{Short description|Chilean businessman and philanthropist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{family name hatnote|Farkas|Klein|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leonardo Farkas
| image = LEONARDO FARKAS CON MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Leonardo Julio Farkas Klein
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|3|20}}
| birth_place = Santiago, Chile
| alma_mater = University of Santiago, Chile
}}
Leonardo Julio Farkas Klein (Santiago, Chile, born March 20, 1967) is a Chilean businessman and philanthropist of Hungarian and Jewish descent, his wealth comes from mining companies. His philanthropy includes involvement in the Chilean Telethon, and people affected by disasters or in a vulnerable situation.
Early years
Farkas's parents were Jews of Hungarian descent who emigrated from Transylvania to South America in 1939.{{Cite news |last=Barrionuevo |first=Alexei |date=2010-11-20 |title=Mine Owner’s Flair Rankles Chilean Elite |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/world/americas/20chile.html |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Farkas studied business administration at the University of Santiago, Chile.
''Musical Career''
In the 1980s, he emigrated to the United States and worked in show business as a piano player while traveling between Las Vegas, New York, and Miami. He also worked in several Caribbean cruising companies. Known as “The Orchestra Man”, he shared stages with artists such as Tom Jones and Julio Iglesias.{{Cite web |last=ivan |date=September 2, 2008 |title=Leonardo Farkas: De "hombre orquesta" a "Rey del hierro" (from "Orchestra Man" to "Iron King") |url=https://www.latercera.com/noticia/leonardo-farkas-de-hombre-orquesta-a-rey-del-hierro/ |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=La Tercera |language=Spanish}}
During his performances, he met his wife, an American, Betina Friedman Parker, the great-granddaughter of Arthur Winarick, founder of the Concord Hotel in the Catskills in the state of New York, where they got married.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
At the age of 35, he retired from music to focus solely on his wife and their three children, taking on various jobs as an exporter and seller of various products. He also entered the real estate business in the United States, and then mining business in Chile.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/world/americas/20chile.html | work=The New York Times | first=Alexei | last=Barrionuevo | title=Farkas's Flair Rankles Chilean Elite – The Saturday Profile | date=November 19, 2010}}{{Cite web |last=Jeanne |first=Arthur |date=2016-05-31 |title=Farkas, le Chili incarné; (Farkas, Chile Embodies). |url=https://www.society-magazine.fr/farkas-la-chili-incarne/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Society |language=fr-FR}}
Consideration of presidential candidacy
In October 2008 Farkas announced that he was considering being an independent candidate for the presidential election of 2009.{{Cite web |last=Kimbell |first=Wes |date=November 14, 2008 |title=CHILE'S LONGSHOT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GREETED AS HERO |url=http://www.valparaisotimes.cl/content/view/452/25/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209014411/http://www.valparaisotimes.cl/content/view/452/25/ |archive-date=December 9, 2008 |website=Valparaisotimes.cl}}{{Cite web |date=November 12, 2008 |title=LEONARDO FARKAS: CHILE'S NEXT PRESIDENT? |url=http://www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes/index.php/2008111015071/news/editorial-opinion/leonardo-farkas-chile-s-next-president.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208170746/http://www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes/index.php/2008111015071/news/editorial-opinion/leonardo-farkas-chile-s-next-president.html |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |website=The Santiago Times}} However, on December 5, he announced he would not be running.{{cite web |date=October 29, 2010 |title=Leonardo Farkas: No seré candidato a la presidencia |trans-title=Leonardo Farkas: I will not be a candidate for presidency |url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=333957 |accessdate=28 November 2010 |publisher=Emol.com |language=Spanish}}
File:Farkas mural.JPG River, Santiago, 2008.]]
In the polls of the last 3 presidential elections in Chile, he has been mentioned among the top preferences but has never accepted to run. Between 2019 and 2020, Farkas's preferences increased in the polls.{{Cite web |last=Mora |first=Sebastián |date=November 6, 2019 |title=Farkas irrumpe en encuesta presidencial liderada por Sánchez y Lavín (Farkas Burst in Presidential Poll) |url=https://www.24horas.cl/politica/farkas-irrumpe-en-encuesta-presidencial-liderada-por-sanchez-y-lavin--3706269 |access-date= |website=24 horas |language=Spanish}} In July 2020, Farkas polled in second place for Chilean presidency.{{Cite web |last=Harkov |first=Lahav |date=July 23, 2020 |title=Jewish philanthropist polls in second place for Chilean presidency |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-philanthropist-polls-in-second-place-for-chilean-presidency-635786 }}
In 2021, the international news company Bloomberg chose Leonardo Farkas among the 500 most influential Latin Americans. The agency stated that the mining entrepreneur is retired but "remains a relevant figure in local business and politics. More than anything, a philanthropist, Farkas has become a success story that, through social networks, promotes a successful platform to help thousands of Chileans in poverty situations."{{Cite web |date=August 13, 2021 |title=Leonardo Farkas - 500-EN |url=https://www.bloomberglinea.com/2021/08/13/leonardo-farkas/ |website=Bloomberg online}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=October 17, 2021 |title=Ubican a Farkas y creadores de Cornershop y Betterfly entre los chilenos más influyentes de Latinoamérica (Bloomberg chose Leonardo Farkas among the 500 most influential Latin Americans) |url=https://www.publimetro.cl/noticias/2021/10/07/ubican-a-farkas-y-creadores-de-cornershop-y-betterfly-entre-los-chilenos-mas-influyentes-de-latinoamerica/ |website=Publimetro |language=Spanish}}
Philanthropy
Farkas appears in the Teletón (Chilean telethon), a fundraising campaign for handicapped children. Farkas donated hundreds of millions of pesos, and in 2008, donated 1 billion pesos (approx. US$2 million), becoming the first individual to donate such amount of money to this campaign.{{cite web|url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/magazine/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=333089 |title=Teletón finalmente cumple la meta en el Nacional (minuto a minuto) |language=Spanish |trans-title=Teletón finally accomplishes the goal in the National Stadium (minute to minute) |publisher=Emol.com |date=November 29, 2008 |accessdate=28 November 2010}}
Farkas has been very critical of the Chilean upper class, stating that "they’re usually very stingy and elitist" and don't do enough to mitigate Chile's social problems. He has also said that if elected president "all Chileans would have their own house".{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/fenomeno/Farkas/seduce/Chile/elpepuintlat/20081120elpepuint_6/Tes |title=El "fenómeno Farkas" seduce a Chile · ELPAÍS.com |language=Spanish |trans-title=The "phenomenon Farkas" seduces Chile · ELPAÍS.com |work=El País |date=November 20, 2008 |accessdate=28 November 2010}} This rhetoric of appealing to the masses of poor people has gained him substantial support among that social group and some harsh criticism from his business peers and local politicians, often labeling him as a "populist" in search of some spotlight.
During the rescue operation in Copiapó, Chile of the trapped miners, Farkas donated $10,000 to each of the 33 rescued men. Farkas reportedly gave checks in the miners' names to each of the families and set up a separate fund to collect donations.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39677491 Showers of offers for Chile miners], NBC News
On July 1, 2011, Farkas was given an award by the Viña del Mar Mayor for his contributions to the city. {{Cite web |last=Ordenes |first=Luis |date=2011-06-01 |title=Leonardo Farkas es declarado Ciudadano Ilustre de Viña del Mar |url=http://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/2011/06/01/leonardo-farkas-es-declarado-ciudadano-ilustre-de-vina-del-mar.shtml |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile |language=es}}
On February 7, 2018, Farkas offered a reward of 10 million Chilean pesos for anyone who found Emmelyn Catalina Cañales Vidal, an 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Licantén, Chile.{{Cite web|url=https://www.t13.cl/noticia/nacional/leonardo-farkas-ofrece-recompensa-quien-encuentre-emmelyn|title=Leonardo Farkas ofrece recompensa para quien encuentre a Emmelyn|last=Tele 13|website=T13|language=es-ES|access-date=4 September 2019}}
Farkas is a patron of the March of the Living, an annual educational program which brings students to Poland, to study the history of the Holocaust and examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hate.{{cite web |url=http://motl.org/?p=2503 |title=March of the Living expresses its gratitude to Leonardo Farkas of Santiago, Chile |access-date=February 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305154341/http://motl.org/?p=2503 |archive-date=March 5, 2014 |url-status=dead }}
According to a study, coordinated by Magdalena Aninat, director of the Centro de Filantropía e Inversiones Sociales (Cefis) of the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI), which investigated the philanthropy and social investments of Chilean companies, concluded that "Farkas is an actor that it is pushing others and acting as a 'role of conscience.' It has a very interesting role to make visible a more American model of the success of the business world, where that success closes with returning the hand to society. In Chile we are not used to making donations visible, but Farkas is constantly challenging the business world to be present and that is positive," said the UAI academic.{{cite web|url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/Economia/2017/11/30/885409/Filantropia-en-Chile-Por-que-y-donde-aportan-dinero-las-grandes-empresas.html|title=Filantropía en Chile: ¿Por qué y dónde aportan dinero las grandes empresas? |language=Spanish |publisher=Emol.com |date=November 30, 2017 |accessdate=30 November 2017}}
Involvement with March Of The Living
In 2014, with the support of Leonardo Farkas, March of the Living marked the 70th anniversary of the destruction of Hungarian Jewry at the hands of the Nazis in 1944 during World War II. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the close of the memorial ceremony on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a number of Holocaust survivors – many whose relatives perished in the death camp – joined Leonardo Farkas in the writing of the last letters of a Torah. The Torah was donated to the March of the Living by Mr. Farkas.{{cite web|author=YouTube – Leonardo Farkas|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKXKWIIN6Ng|title=March of the Living Tribute to Leonardo Farkas=February 13, 2015| website=YouTube }}
Cultural Donations
In 2014, Leonardo donated the seven newly written Sefer Torah sent to six different continents: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Over the years, Farkas has donated Sefer Torahs to the Chabad-Lubavitch hassidic Jewish organization and other institutions around the world.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/2518056/jewish/Seven-Torahs-to-Six-Continents-Thanks-to-One-Chilean-Businessman.htm|title=Seven Torahs to Six Continents, Thanks to One Chilean Businessman|website=chabad.org|access-date=4 September 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Leonardo}}
Category:Chilean businesspeople
Category:Chilean businesspeople in mining
Category:Chilean philanthropists
Category:University of Santiago, Chile alumni
Category:Candidates for President of Chile
Category:Chilean people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Category:21st-century pianists