Origins & Early Life

César Ritz (French: [sezaʁ ʁits]; né Cäsar Ritz; 23 February 1850 – 26 October 1918) was a Swiss businessman, hotelier and pioneer of the travel industry. He most notably founded several hotels most famously the Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the Ritz and Carlton Hotels in London (the forerunners of the modern Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company). He was an early hotel chain founder known as "King of Hoteliers, and Hotelier to Kings," and it is from his name and that of his hotels that the term ritzy derives. Ritz was born 23 February 1850 in Niederwald in Valais, Switzerland, the youngest of thirteen children, to Johann "Anton" Ritz, a farmer, municipal president and justice of the peace, and Maria Creszentia (née Heinen), into a Catholic peasant family.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

At the age of twelve he was sent as a boarder to the Jesuit college at Sion, and at fifteen, having shown only vaguely artistic leanings, was apprenticed as a sommelier at a hotel in Brig. While working there as an apprentice wine waiter he was dismissed by the patron of the hotel from his position, saying, "You'll never make anything of yourself in the hotel business. It takes a special knack, a special flair, and it...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Abdul Hamid II — Contemporary (Died in 1918) (1918): Last effective Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, navigating decline and constitutional upheaval.
• Abraham Pais — Contemporary (Born in 1918) (1918): Pioneering physicist and acclaimed science historian of modern physics.
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• Carl Friedrich Gauss — Shared historical date (02-23 · Died) (1855): German polymath whose work spanned number theory, algebra, and statistics.
• Christopher Hill (historian) — Shared historical date (02-23 · Died) (2003): Marxist historian specializing in 17th-century English history.
• Abby Aldrich Rockefeller — Shared historical date (10-26 · Born) (1874): American socialite and influential philanthropist, key patron of modern art.
• Alfred Tarski — Shared historical date (10-26 · Died) (1983): Pioneering logician known for model theory and the formal concept of truth.
• 1850 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1850
• February 23 (02-23) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on February 23
• 1918 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1918
• October 26 (10-26) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on October 26