HIGGINSON, HENRY LEE (1834-1919) , American banker, was born in New York city on Nov. 18, 1834. He entered the banking house of S. and E. Austin, of Boston, but later went to Vienna for a year, where he studied music. In the Civil War he served as a volunteer officer. In 1863 he was severely wounded and honourably discharged. In 1868 he joined the banking firm of Lee, Higginson and Co., of Boston, with whom he remained until his death.
His interest in music led to his founding the Boston Symphony orchestra in 1881. A long line of distinguished directors placed this organisation in the first rank and won full recognition abroad. In 1891, as a memorial to certain friends who died in the Civil War, he presented Soldiers' Field to Harvard university. In 1899 he erected the Harvard union as a general meeting-place for all undergraduates. For many years a fellow of Harvard university, he died in Boston (Mass.), on Nov. 14, 1919.
See Bliss Perry, The Life and Letters of Henry Lee Higginson (192I).