Theodore August Heintzman 1817-1899

A German immigrant and veteran craftsman, Heintzman founded one of Canada's longest lived and most prominent firms of piano manufacturers. He first immigrated in 1850 to the United States where he worked for a time in a piano factory, before he established his own business. This failing, he came to Toronto, virtually penniless, in 1860. From the sale of a piano built in his daughter's home he financed the beginning of a piano factory. The company he established rapidly expanded and soon Heintzman pianos were being sold across Canada and abroad.