The Bronfmans control one of the world's richest business empires, the Seagram Company. They are descended from a Russian tobacco farmer, Ekiel Bronfman, who brought the family to Canada in 1889. Ekiel settled near Wapella, Sask., but soon moved to Brandon, Man., where he started a wood-selling business.

Ekiel and his wife Minnie had eight children: Abe, Harry, Laura, Samuel, Jean, Bessie, Allan, and Rose. The three eldest were born in Russia, the younger ones in Canada. Samuel was born either in Russia or at sea on the way to Canada. He was the most famous of Ekiel's children. It was he who laid the basis of the family fortune.

SAMUEL BRONFMAN (February 27, 1889, to July 10, 1971). In 1903, when Samuel was a teenager, his father and elder brothers bought a hotel in Manitoba. It did so well that they were able to buy and run other hotels. This led them into the liquor business, making and selling whisky. During the Prohibition era in the United States (1920-33), when Americans were not allowed to manufacture liquor, Samuel and his brothers built up a profitable business by selling Americans Canadian-made liquor. In 1924 Samuel founded a distilling company in Montreal to make quality whisky, and in 1928 he merged the company with a distillers called Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Ltd. As a result of Samuel's energy and business expertise, Seagram grew to be one of the world's largest distilling firms. He played a leading role in Canadian Jewish affairs. His children have carried on the business.

EDGAR MILES BRONFMAN (born on June 20, 1929), the elder of Samuel's two sons, became chairman of the Seagram Company, working out of the company's head office in New York. He has played an important international role as president of the World Jewish Congress.

CHARLES ROSNER BRONFMAN (born on June 27, 1931), Samuel's younger son, became Seagram's deputy chairman, running the Canadian branch of the business in Montreal. In 1968 he bought the Montreal Expos baseball club, and in 1986 he created the CRB Foundation. The foundation sponsors studies on Canadian and Jewish affairs.

PHYLLIS LAMBERT (born on January 24, 1927), the younger of Samuel's two daughters, founded the Canadian Centre of Architecture, which includes an architectural museum. Her sister, MINDA, BARONESS DE GUNZBURG (1925-86), married a French nobleman and moved to France, where she became a sponsor of art history.

EDWARD BRONFMAN (born on November 1, 1927) and PETER BRONFMAN (born on October 2, 1929) are Samuel Bronfman's nephews, the sons of his brother Allan. They built up a separate financial empire. Called Edper Investments, it includes both Canada's largest forestry company and largest trust company.