The Bronfman family is a CanadianJewishfamily. It owes its initial fame to Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), who made a fortune in the alcoholic distilled beverage business during the 20th century through the family's Seagram Company. The family is of Russian Jewish and Romanian Jewish ancestry. According to staff reporter, Nathaniel Popper, the Bronfman family is "perhaps the second largest force in the Jewish charitable world"