Hugh Cullman died at his home in Pittsboro, North Carolina, USA, on Nov. 4 at the age of 100, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Cullman was among the last members of his family to hold a leading role in the cigarette business. Robert Proctor, Stanford University professor, called Cullman’s family “the most important tobacco family in American history.”
Cullman worked at Philip Morris for more than 30 years, selling cigarettes and “the idea that you couldn’t prove that smoking was as bad as critics claimed,” according to WSJ.
Cullman is survived by his daughter, Katherine Hedges, his son, Hugh Cullman Jr., his daughter, Alexandra Haslingden, his sister, Marguerite Cullman, his brother, Brian Cullman, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.