John Simon Guggenheim was the son of Simon Guggenheim, one of seven brothers whose father Meyer Guggenheim came to Philadelphia from Switzerland in 1848.

Meyer Guggenheim, emigrated (1847) to the U.S. and prospered as a lace merchant in Philadelphia. His real fortune came from metal smelting and refining, beginning when he was nearly 60. 

His investment in Colorado silver mines put the Guggenheim family into the mining and smelting business, a business (the American Smelting and Refining Company or ASARCO) that expanded to include copper and nitrates not only in Colorado, but eventually in Mexico, Alaska, Chile, and other places around the world.

Five of the brothers participated in the business activities of the family: Daniel, Murray, Isaac, Solomon, and Simon. The two younger brothers were Ben and William. Ben went down on the Titanic in 1912, but left a daughter, Peggy Guggenheim, who became a well known figure in the modern art world.

Simon Guggenheim became a senator from Colorado in 1907 from 1907 to 1913, and was one of the earliest contributors to Colorado School of Mines.  Mr. Guggenheim had two sons, both of whom died young, and he and his wife went on to devote their resources to this Foundation, both during their lifetimes and in bequests after their deaths. There are no more heirs of Simon Guggenheim.

Being Philanthropists for academia and the arts, U.S. Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife had also established the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York (1925) as a memorial to a son who died April 26, 1922.