 He was born to a Jewish family on February 22, 1884 to Mendel Gottesman and Sarah Fischgrund in Munkacs, in the Bereg County of the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Zakarpattia Oblast, Ukraine), in 1885, Gottesman emigrated to the United States and later joined his father's paper-making business, M. Gottesman & Company.He died on April 21, 1956.He was also a successful banker, organizing the Central National Bank in New York City.