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Description area
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History
Michael Hirsch was born in 1864 in Richmond, Quebec to Jacob and Lizzie (nee Levine) Hirsch. The Hirsch family moved to Montreal in 1875. Michael Hirsch became a successful businessman in the cigar industry, beginning in 1883, and ultimately retired in 1921.
Hirsch is best remembered for his leading role in numerous communal affairs of Jewish Montreal. In 1917 he was one of the founders and early presidents of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (today's Federation CJA) and also served as a president of the Montefiore Club and president of the Mount Sinai Sanitarium. He was active in the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue, Temple Emanu-El congregation, and the YMHA. Outside of the community, Hirsch was a long-time member of the Masonic Lodge, the Montreal Board of Trade, and was a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital. Through his work with the Mount Sinai Sanitarium, Hirsch was appointed to the Anti-Tuberculosis and Health League. Most notably, in 1924 Hirsch participated in the Quebec Royal Commission responsible for investigating the Jewish School Question.