Confectioner. He was one of the founders of the Swiss chocolate and candy company Lindt & Sprüngli. He began making chocolates in the confectionary shop of his father, David Sprüngli, in Zurich, Switzerland in 1845. He opened his own chocolate production company in 1847. In 1892, he turned the company over to his sons, David Robert and Rudolf, Jr. David Robert inherited the confectionary shop Confiserie Sprüngli, which today has 19 branches in Switzerland with an annual revenue of around 100 million Swiss francs. Rudolf inherited the chocolate production, which he merged with the Lindt company to form today’s internationally known Lindt & Sprüngli, with annual revenue of around 2.6 billion Swiss francs. (bio by: M Pattison)