HE started his life as a son of a locksmith turned wagon builder.
It was a humble start in Tsarist Russia, during the First World War.By the end of his years almost a century later, Harold Pupkewitz was one of Namibia’s best-known and most respected businessmen – a man who had built a trading empire known throughout the country, where customers could buy anything, from as small as a nail to as big as a heavy truck, who employed hundreds of people, who was a fervent believer in the beneficial influence of free enterprise, and who continued working to the end of his long life.Pupkewitz has recounted his and his family’s history since the early years of the previous century in numerous newspaper interviews over recent years.His family’s roots were in Vilnius, in what is today Lithuania.Like many of the Jewish residents of Vilnius, which had a large Jewish population, Pupkewitz’s father, Max Pupkewitz, left his home in search of a better life, arriving in South Africa in 1902.Although he was a locksmith by trade, Max Pupkewitz found a job as a wagon maker at King Williamstown in the then Cape Colony, before he moved to the then German South West Africa to continue working as a wagon builder.Pupkewitz Senior returned to Vilnius in 1912 to visit his family. He got caught up in the turmoil of World War I when the war broke out in 1914, followed by the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, and he only returned to South West Africa by 1921.By then he was married and the father of three sons: Morris, Harold and Julius Pupkewitz.Harold Pupkewitz was born in Vilnius on July 14 1915.He, his mother, Anna, and two brothers joined his father in South West Africa on March 1 1925. With their arrival in the country that would become their home he and his family tasted freedom – and specifically freedom from anti-Semitism and discrimination – for the first time in their lives, Pupkewitz told a journalist of a local newspaper when he celebrated his 90th birthday.At the start of 1925, Max Pupkewitz – having found that his trade as wagon builder had been overtaken by the arrival of technological advances in the form of rail transport and the motor car – had opened the doors of his own shop in Windhoek.From his shop in Windhoek’s Ausspannplatz area Pupkewitz Senior initially conducted business as a general dealer, selling household wares, groceries and clothing. That was the start of what would grow into a Namibian trading giant under the leadership of Harold Pupkewitz.Pupkewitz matriculated at Windhoek High School in 1932. During his years in school he developed into a keen sportsman, taking part in athletics, swimming, football and rugby, and later also wrestling and horse riding. To the end of his life Pupkewitz remained physically active, swimming and walking for exercise.After school, Pupkewitz went on to study at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1935.After working in Cape Town for two more years, he returned to Windhoek and joined his father’s business in 1937.His older brother, Morris Pupkewitz, was also involved in the family business by then. Their younger brother, Julius, was to join them in the business later.By 1946, the family business was formalised under the name M Pupkewitz and Sons – a name it carries up to today.From humble beginnings, the Pupkewitz general dealer grew into a national group, supplying customers with goods including hardware, building materials, agricultural equipment, catering equipment, electronic goods, cellphones, motor vehicles, and trucks. The vehicle trade forms a substantial part of the group’s business, with Pupkewitz Motor Division running dealerships for well-known vehicle manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan, and Honda.Except for leading and managing the Pupkewitz group as executive chairman of Pupkewitz Holdings, the holding company formed in 1981, Harold Pupkewitz also served as a director of various other companies, including NamPower, of which he was the board chairman, Telecom Namibia, NamPost, and MTC, and as president of the Namibian Employers’ Federation.He was a member of the President’s Economic Advisory Council since 1997.The Polytechnic of Namibia named its business school the Harold Pupkewitz Graduate School of Business in 2008, after Pupkewitz had made a donation of N$10 million to the institution.In 2011 the Polytechnic awarded an honorary doctorate degree in business management to Pupkewitz for his contribution to business development in Namibia.As one of the oldest members of Namibia’s small Jewish community, Pupkewitz was the honorary life president of the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation. He has also served as vice chairman of the African Jewish Congress.Pupkewitz married his wife, Ethel, in 1952. They have a daughter, artist Meryl Barry, a son, photographer Tony Pupkewitz, and two grandchildren.
