Johann (Hans) Kotányi

Johann 'Hans' Kotányi was born in Vienna as the only legitimate son alongside four sisters of Jakob (János) Kotányi and his wife Sophie, née Sonnenfeld. His Jewish parents had emigrated to Vienna from Szeged in Hungary and founded the spice trading company Kotányi, whose name was later expanded to include the addition First Austrian Paprika Mill in 1881. The company becomes known for its various paprika blends and in 1912 is appointed purveyor to the imperial and royal court.

After the defeat of Austria-Hungary, the break-up of the dual monarchy and the expulsion of the Habsburgs, the company Kotányi - First Austrian Paprika Mill expands its product range and establishes further branches in Budapest, Berlin, Munich, Boston and New York.

Hans Kotányi attends a commercial academy after completing elementary school and lower secondary school. After graduating, he began working in his father's company. In 1920, he married Charlotte Altmann, who was also Jewish, and went on to have a son and a daughter.

In 1925, Hans Kotányi took over the management of the company from his father, who died in 1928. In 1934, the staunch Austrian joins the Vaterländische Front.

On March 12, 1938, entrepreneur Hans Kotányi witnesses the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. The company itself is one of the first in Austria to be aryanized. On March 16, 1938, Hans Kotányi was forced to sell his company to the 'araiser' Georg Kohl, was himself arrested by the Gestapo in his apartment an hour later and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on April 2, 1938 on the so-called 'Prominent Transport'. The situation and prison conditions in Dachau concentration camp were so unbearable for him that he slit his wrists and hanged himself on April 28, 1938.

The family emigrated to England. The company initially trades under the additional name of owner Georg Kohl, later directly under this name.