President of the World Jewish Congress from 1981 until 2007, Bronfman was the son of Samuel Bronfman (1891-1971), one of Canada’s leading Jewish industrialists and communal leaders. Edgar Bronfman developed the Seagram Company founded by his father, and became an international Jewish leader as president of the Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress exerted influence on Jewish affairs around the world, mostly notably championing the plight of the Jews of the Soviet Union,  exposing of Austria’s president, Kurt Waldheim, as an ex-Nazi, and the discovery of bank accounts in Switzerland with funds belonging to Jewish victims of the Nazis.