  levi strauss (, born lÃ¶b strauÃ, ; february 26, 1829 â september 26, 1902) was a german-american businessman of german jewish descent who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. his firm, levi strauss & co., began in 1853 in san francisco, california. ==origins== thumb| birthplace of levi strauss levi strauss was born in buttenheim, germany, on february 26, 1829, in the franconian region of bavaria, germany, to an ashkenazi jewish family. he was the son of hirsch strauss and his second wife rebecca strauss.http://www.joachim-dietze.de/pdf/levis_aa.pdfhttp://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=dac18690108.2.38.1 * 6 july 1799, + 8 january 1869 at the age of 18, strauss, his mother and two sisters traveled to the united states to join his brothers jonas and louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in new york city called j. strauss brother & co. ==business career== levi's sister fanny and her husband david stern moved to st. louis, missouri, while levi went to live in louisville, kentucky, and sold his brothers' supplies in kentucky.{{cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=fdyckjf2iwgc&pg=pt122&dq=levi's+sister+fanny |title=they made america |first=harold|last=evans |year=2004 |publ
1829_births 1902_deaths American_Jews American_businesspeople_in_retailing Businesspeople_from_New_York_City Businesspeople_from_San_Francisco,_California German_Jews German_businesspeople German_emigrants_to_the_United_States Jewish_inventors People_of_the_California_Gold_Rush