Isaias W. Hellman

Biography

Isaias W. Hellman, born in 1842, emigrated from Bavaria and settled in California, where he founded Farmers and Merchants Bank and later became the president of Wells Fargo Bank and the Union Trust Company. He brought a disciplined, steady hand to finance, helping to stabilize the economy of Los Angeles and beyond through careful lending and support for commercial enterprise.

He also gave generously to educational and civic institutions, supporting universities, cultural groups, and charities that served immigrants and the broader public, and he is interred at Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum, a reminder of the civic foundations he helped build.