Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Heinz Berggruen, a German art collector who filled his Berlin museum with works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Paul Klee decades after fleeing from the Nazis, died in Paris on Feb. 23. He was 93.

Berggruen suffered a heart attack in his sleep, according to a statement from the Prussian Culture Foundation, the organization that oversees Berlin museums including the Museum Berggruen. His widow Bettina said Berggruen wanted to be buried in Berlin's Waldfriedhof cemetery, according to the statement.

Since opening in 1996 to house Berggruen's collection, the museum in the Charlottenburg district has drawn more than 1.5 million visitors to see its 20th-century works, which include 80 by Picasso and more than 50 by Klee.

In December, Berggruen bought and bequeathed Alberto Giacometti's 1960 2-meter-high bronze sculpture, ``Large Standing Woman III,'' which is now in the Museum Berggruen's main rotunda.

``As one of the most significant collectors and patrons of the 20th century, Heinz Berggruen has set in place an unforgettable gesture of reconciliation with the lavish gift of his collection to Berlin,'' the foundation said in the statement.

Berggruen was born Jan. 5, 1914, to a wealthy Jewish family in Berlin. Following an early interest in French literature and language, he studied at the universities in Grenoble and Toulouse and began writing reviews for the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1935.

Quitting Germany

After the newspaper dropped his byline in favor of ``H.B.'' so as not to call attention to his Jewish name, he left Germany, he said in a 2002 interview published on the Web site of Berlin's Humboldt University. Berggruen emigrated to the U.S. in 1936, where he became acquainted with the painter Diego Rivera and obsessed with the visual arts rather than literature.

Berggruen returned to Germany as a U.S. soldier in 1944 and then settled in Paris, where he earned the trust of Picasso and founded a gallery that became celebrated in the international art market, according to a history posted on his museum's Web site.

Berggruen abandoned life as a gallery director after more than three decades in 1980, to focus on expanding his collection of modern art. His collection was displayed at London's National Gallery for five years before he chose to house his paintings and sculpture in Berlin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 26, 2007 09:26 EST