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With hundreds of performances and hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, Carnegie Hall is a landmark of Manhattan, New York. Could you have guessed that this magnificent structure was built by a Scottish-born migrant? This portrait captures the firm stare of Andrew Carnegie: businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie grew up in Dunfermline, Scotland, in a weaver’s cottage with only one main room. When he was 13, his father fell on hard times and the country was in starvation. For the prospect of a better life, the Carnegies moved to Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Here, Andrew was subsequently employed as a bobbins boy and steam engine operator, a telegrapher, a secretary and a railway intendant.
He worked his way up to being an investor and company owner, and made a fortune in the steel industry. Carnegie was considered one of the richest and most generous men in the world: in the last 18 years of his life, he donated about $350 million – or 90% of his fortune – to charity.
