Hammer, Armand (1898–1990)

US entrepreneur, one of the most remarkable business figures of the 20th century. A pioneer in trading with the USSR from 1921, he later acted as a political mediator. He was chair of the US oil company Occidental Petroleum until his death, and was also an expert on art.

Hammer visited the USSR 1921 and acquired the first private concession awarded by the Soviet government, an asbestos mine. He built up fortunes in several business areas, including the import-export business. He was renowned for his dynamism, his championing of East–West relations, and his many philanthropic and cultural activities.

Having received his medical degree from Columbia University, Hammer wanted to use his skills to aid victims of starvation and typhus in the Ural Mountains. While in the USSR, he developed the idea of importing food from the US grain surplus in exchange for luxury goods. Lenin approved, and Hammer established a large import-export business. During the next quarter of a century, he made a fortune in, among other things, livestock feed and cattle. In 1956, he and his wife each put $50,000 into a struggling oil company, Occidental Petroleum, which became one of America's largest.