For the German surname "Rothschild", see Rothschild (disambiguation). For one of the investment banks founded by the family, see N M Rothschild & Sons. For one of the private banks founded by the family, see LCF Rothschild Group.

The Rothschild family (known as The House of Rothschild,^[1] or more simply as the Rothschilds) is a European family of German Jewish origin that established European banking and finance houses from the late eighteenth century. Five lines of the Austrian branch of the family were elevated into the Austrian nobility, being given hereditary baronies of the Habsburg Empire by Emperor Francis II in 1816. The British branch of the family was elevated into the British nobility by Queen Victoria.^[2][3] It has been argued that during the 19th century, the family possessed by far the largest private fortune in the world, and by far the largest fortune in modern history.^[3][4]
Origins

The family's rise to European prominence began with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (born Frankfurt am Main, Germany 1744), the son of Amschel Moses Rothschild,^[5] a money changer. Born in the ghetto (called "Judengasse" or Jew Alley) of Frankfurt, he developed a finance house and spread his empire by installing each of his five sons in European cities to conduct business. Unlike the old court Jews, the new kind of international firm the Rothschilds created was impervious to local attack. In 1819, as if to demonstrate that newly acquired Jewish rights were illusionary so far, anti-Semitic violence broke out in many parts of Germany. These Hep-Hep riots as they were called, included an assault on the Rothschild house in Frankfurt. It made no difference. Nor did a further attack during the 1848 revolution. The money was no longer there. It was paper, circulating through the world. The Rothschilds completed a process the Jews had been working on for centuries: how to immunize their lawful property from despoiling violence. Henceforth their real wealth was beyond the reach of the mobs, almost beyond the reach of greedy monarchs.^[6] Another essential part of Mayer Rothschild's strategy for future success was to keep control of their businesses in family hands, allowing them to maintain full discretion about the size of their wealth and their business achievements. About 1906, the Jewish Encyclopedia noted: "The practise initiated by the Rothschilds of having several brothers of a firm establish branches in the different financial centers was followed by other Jewish financiers, like the Bischoffsheims, Pereires, Seligmans, Lazards, and others, and these financiers by their integrity and financial skill obtained credit not alone with their Jewish confrères, but with the banking fraternity in general. By this means Jewish financiers obtained an increasing share of international finance during the middle and last quarter of the nineteenth century. The head of the whole group was the Rothschild family...". It also states: "Of more recent years, non-Jewish financiers have learned the same cosmopolitan method, and, on the whole, the control is now rather less than more in Jewish hands than formerly."^[7] This practice followed a royal and aristocratic technique, which also was copied later by business dynasties such as the Du Pont family.^[8]

Mayer Rothschild successfully kept the fortune in the family with carefully arranged marriages, including between first or second cousins, although by the later 19th century, almost all Rothschilds had started to marry outside the family, usually into the aristocracy or other financial dynasties.^[8] His sons were:

• Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773–1855): Frankfurt, died childless, passed to sons of Salomon and Calmann
• Salomon Mayer Rothschild (1774–1855): Vienna
• Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836): London
• Calmann Mayer Rothschild (1788–1855): Naples
• Jakob Mayer Rothschild (1792–1868): Paris

The Rothschild coat of arms contains a clenched fist with five arrows symbolizing the five sons of Mayer Rothschild, a reference to Psalm 127: "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior". The family motto appears below the shield, in Latin, Concordia, Integritas, Industria, (Harmony, Integrity, Industry).^[9] The German family name means "Red Shield". Today, it would be spelled "Rotschild", and is pronounced approximately ROTE-shillt in German, not wroth(s)-child as it is in English.

Families by country:

• Rothschild banking family of Naples
• Rothschild banking family of England
• Rothschild banking family of Austria
• Rothschild banking family of Germany
• Rothschild banking family of France
• Rothschild banking family of Switzerland

 The Napoleonic Wars

The Rothschilds already possessed a very significant fortune before the start of Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), and Nathan Mayer Rothschild gained preeminence in the bullion trade at this time.^[10] From London in 1813 to 1815, he was instrumental in the financing of the British war effort, financing the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington's armies across Europe, as well as arranging the payment of British financial subsidies to their Continental allies. In 1815 alone, the Rothschilds provided £9.8 million (in 1815 currency prices) in subsidy loans to Britain's continental allies.^[11]

 

The brothers helped co-ordinate Rothschild activities across the continent, and the family developed a network of agents, shippers and couriers to transport gold across war-torn Europe. The family network was also to provide Nathan Rothschild time and again with political and financial information ahead of his peers, giving him an advantage in the markets and rendering the house of Rothschild still more invaluable to the British government. In one instance, the family network enabled Nathan to receive in London the news of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo a full day ahead of the government's official messengers.^[10]

The basis for the Rothschild's most famously profitable move was made after the news of British victory had been made public. Nathan Rothschild calculated that the future reduction in government borrowing brought about by the peace would create a bounce in British government bonds after a two year stabilisation, which would finalise the post-war re-structuring of the domestic economy.^[11][12][13] In what has been described as one of the most audacious moves in financial history, Nathan immediately bought up the government bond market, for what at the time seemed an excessively high price, before waiting two years, then selling the bonds on the crest of short bounce in the market in 1817 for a 40% profit. Given the sheer power of leverage the Rothschild family had at its disposal, this profit was an enormous sum.^[11]

Contrary to stories emanating from an article about the family in a late nineteenth-century magazine with decidedly antisemitic undertones, Rothschild's first concern on this occasion was not the potential financial advantage on the market which the knowledge would have given him; he and his courier immediately took the news to the government.^[10] It is believed that this is a myth that originated in a partisan French pamphlet in 1846 and was embellished by John Reeves in 1887 in The Rothschilds: the Financial Rulers of Nations. It was then repeated in later popular accounts, such as that of Morton.^[12][13]

Nathan Mayer Rothschild initially started his business in Manchester England in 1806, and gradually moved it to London, where in 1809 he acquired the location at 2 New Court in St. Swithin's Lane, City of London,^[10] where it operates today; he established N. M. Rothschild and Sons in 1811. In 1818, he arranged a £5 million loan to the Prussian government, and the issuing of bonds for government loans formed a mainstay of his bank’s business. He gained a position of such power in the City of London that by 1825–6 he was able to supply enough coin to the Bank of England to enable it to avert a market liquidity crisis.

 International High Finance

In 1816, four of the brothers were each elevated to the hereditary nobility by Austrian Emperor Francis I; Nathan was elevated in 1818. All of them were granted the Austrian title of baron or Freiherr on 29 September 1822. As such, some members of the family used "de" or "von" Rothschild to acknowledge the grant of nobility. In 1885, Nathan Mayer Rothschild II (1840–1915) of the London branch of the family, was granted the hereditary peerage title Baron Rothschild in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Rothschild family banking businesses pioneered international high finance during the industrialisation of Europe and were instrumental in supporting railway systems across the world and in complex government financing for projects such as the Suez Canal. The family bought up a large proportion of the property in Mayfair, London. Major businesses directly founded by Rothschild family capital include Alliance Assurance (1824) (now Royal & SunAlliance); Chemin de Fer du Nord (1845); Rio Tinto Group (1873); Société Le Nickel (1880) (now Eramet); and Imétal (1962) (now Imerys). The Rothschilds financed the founding of De Beers, as well as Cecil Rhodes on his expeditions in Africa and the creation of the colony of Rhodesia. From the late 1880s onwards, the family controlled the Rio Tinto mining company.

The Japanese government approached the London and Paris families for funding during the Russo-Japanese War. The London consortium's issue of Japanese war bonds would total £11.5 million (at 1907 currency rates).^[15]

After amassing huge fortunes, the name Rothschild became synonymous with extravagance and great wealth, and the family was renowned for its art collecting, for its palaces, as well as for its philanthropy. By the end of the century, the family owned, or had built, at the lowest estimates, over 41 palaces, of a scale and luxury perhaps unparalleled even by the richest Royal families.^[11] The soon to be British Prime Minister Lloyd George claimed, in 1909, that Lord Nathan Rothschild was the most powerful man in Britain.^[16][3]

In 1901, with no male heir to take it on, the Frankfurt House closed its doors after more than a century in business. It was not until 1989 that they returned when N M Rothschild & Sons, the British investment arm, plus Bank Rothschild AG, the Swiss branch, set up a representative banking office in Frankfurt.

 French branches

There are two branches of the family connected to France. The first was son James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868), known as "James", who established de Rothschild Frères in Paris. Following the Napoleonic Wars, he played a major role in financing the construction of railroads and the mining business that helped make France an industrial power. James' sons Gustave de Rothschild and Alphonse James de Rothschild continued the banking tradition and was the guarantor of the 5 billion in reparations ^[17] demanded by the occupying Prussian army in the 1870s Franco-Prussian War.^{[citation needed]} Ensuing generations of the Paris Rothschild family remained involved in the family business, becoming a major force in international investment banking. The Rothschilds have since led the Thomson Financial League Tables in Investment Banking Merger and Acquisition deals in the UK, France and Italy.

James Mayer de Rothschild's other son, Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934) was very much engaged in philanthropy and the arts, and was a leading proponent of Zionism. His grandson, Baron Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, founded in 1953 the LCF Rothschild Group, a private bank. Since 1997, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild chairs the group. The group has €100bn of assets in 2008 and owns many wine properties in France (Château Clarke, Château des Laurets), in Australia or in South Africa.

In 1961, the 35 year old Baron Edmond purchased the company Club Med, after he had visited a resort and enjoyed his stay.^[18][19] His interest in Club Med was sold off by the 1990s. In 1973, he bought out the Bank of California, selling his interests in 1984 before it was sold to Mitsubishi Bank in 1985.

The second French branch was founded by Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812–1870). Born in London he was the fourth child of the founder of the British branch of the family, Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836). In 1850, Nathaniel Rothschild moved to Paris, ostensibly to work with his uncle, James Mayer Rothschild. However, in 1853 Nathaniel acquired Château Brane Mouton, a vineyard in Pauillac in the Gironde département. Nathaniel Rothschild renamed the estate, Château Mouton Rothschild and it would become one of the best known labels in the world. In 1868, Nathaniel's uncle, James Mayer de Rothschild acquired the neighboring Chateau Lafite vineyard. By 1980, Guy de Rothschild's business had an annual turnover of 26 billion francs (in the currency rates of 1980).^[20] But then the Paris business suffered a near death blow in 1982 when the Socialist government of François Mitterrand nationalized and renamed it Compagnie Européenne de Banque.^{[needs citation]} Baron David de Rothschild, then 39, decided to stay and rebuild, creating a new entity Rothschild & Cie Banque with just three employees and $1 million in capital. Today, the Paris operation has 22 partners and accounts for a significant part of the global business.

 Austrian branch

In Vienna, Salomon Mayer Rothschild established a bank in the 1820s and the family became admired and respected citizens. The Austrian Rothschilds were elevated to nobility by the Austrian emperor for their services. The crash of 1929 brought problems, and Baron Louis von Rothschild attempted to shore up the Creditanstalt, Austria's largest bank, to prevent its collapse. Nevertheless, during World War II they had to surrender their bank to the Nazis and flee the country. Their Rothschild palaces, a collection of vast palaces in Vienna built and owned by the family, were confiscated, plundered and destroyed by the Nazis. The palaces were famous for their sheer size, and for their huge collections of paintings, armour, tapestries, statues (some of which were restituted to the Rothschilds by the Austrian government in 1999). All family members escaped the Holocaust, some of them moving to the United States, and only returning to Europe after the war. In 1999, the government of Austria agreed to return to the Rothschild family some 250 art treasures looted by the Nazis and absorbed into state museums after the war.

Naples branch

The C M de Rothschild & Figli bank arranged substantial loans to the Papal States and to various Kings of Naples plus the Duchy of Parma and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. However, in the 1830s, Naples followed Spain with a gradual shift away from conventional bond issues that began to affect the bank's growth and profitability. The Unification of Italy in 1861, with the ensuing decline of the Italian aristocracy who had been the Rothschild's primary clients, eventually brought about the closure of their Naples bank, due to declining profits, growth and their forecasts for long-term business sustainability.

Jewish Identity and Positions on Zionism

Some Rothschilds were supporters of Zionism, although other members of the family opposed the creation of the Jewish state on the grounds that it would encourage anti-Semites to question the existing national identities of assimilated Jews around the rest of the world.^[17] In 1917 Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild was the addressee of the Balfour Declaration to the Zionist Federation,^[21] which committed the British government to the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Later, Lord Victor Rothschild was against granting asylum or even help to Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.^[17]

After the death of James Jacob de Rothschild in 1868, Alphonse Rothschild, his oldest son, who took over the management of the family bank, was the most active in support for Eretz Israel.^[22] The Rothschild family archives show that during the 1870s the family contributed nearly 500,000 francs per year on behalf of Eastern Jewry to the Alliance Israélite Universelle.^[23] Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, James Jacob de Rothschild's's youngest son was a patron of the first settlement in Palestine at Rishon-LeZion, and bought from Ottoman landlords parts of the land which now makes up present-day Israel. In 1924, he established the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA), which acquired more than 125,000 acres (22,36 km²) of land and set up business ventures.^[24] In Tel Aviv, he has a road, Rothschild Boulevard, named after him as well as various localities throughout Israel which he assisted in founding including Metulla, Zikhron Ya'akov, Rishon Lezion, and Rosh Pina. A park in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, the Parc Edmond de Rothschild (Edmond de Rothschild Park) is also named after its founder.^[25]

The Rothschilds also played a significant part in the funding of Israel's governmental infrastructure. James A. de Rothschild financed the Knesset building as a gift to the State of Israel^[26] and the Supreme Court of Israel building was donated to Israel by Dorothy de Rothschild.^[27] Outside the President's Chamber is displayed the letter Mrs. Rothschild wrote to the then current Prime Minister Shimon Peres expressing her intention to donate a new building for the Supreme Court.^[28]

Modern business

 

Since the end of the 19th century, the family has taken a low-key public profile, donating many of their most famous estates, as well as vast quantities of art, to charity, keeping full anonymity about the size of their fortunes, and eschewing conspicuous displays of wealth.^[29] The family once had one of the largest private art collections in the world, and a significant proportion of the art in the world's public museums are Rothschild donations which were sometimes, in the family tradition of discretion, donated anonymously.^[30]

In July 2003, a major reorganization of the Rothschild business structure took place when the two main London and Paris investment banks were united through a new Dutch-registered master holding company, Concordia BV, under the chairmanship of Baron David René de Rothschild. Under this banner, Rothschild et Cie Banque controls the Rothschild banking businesses in France and continental Europe, while Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG controls the Rothschild banking elsewhere, including N M Rothschild & Sons in London.^[31] Twenty percent of Rothschild Continuation Holdings AG was sold in 2005 to Jardine Strategic, which is a subsidiary of Jardine, Matheson & Co. of Hong Kong. In November 2008, Rabobank Group, the leading investment and commercial bank in the Netherlands, acquired 7.5% of Rothschild Continuation Holdings AG, and Rabobank and Rothschild entered into a co-operation agreement in the fields of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) advisory and Equity Capital Markets advisory in the food and agribusiness sectors.^[32] It was believed that the move was intended to help Rothschild Continuation Holdings AG gain access to a wider capital pool, enlarging its presence in East Asian markets.^[33]

A London investment bank, N M Rothschild & Sons does most of its business as a mergers and acquisitions advisor. In 2004, the investment bank withdrew from the gold market, a commodity the Rothschild bankers had traded in for two centuries.^[17] In 2006, it ranked second in UK M&A with deals totalling $104.9 billion.^[34] In 2006, it publicly recorded a pre-tax annual profit of £83.2 million with assets of £5.5 billion.^[35]

One member of the French branch of the family, Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild (1926–1997) founded the LCF Rothschild Group, based in Geneva, with €100 billion in assets, which today extends to 15 countries across the world. Although this Group is primarily a financial entity, specialising in asset management and private banking, its activities also cover mixed farming, luxury hotels, and yacht racing. The LCF Rothschild Group's committee is currently being chaired by Benjamin de Rothschild, Baron Edmond's son.

Rothschild family banks include, amongst others, Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild and Banque privée Edmond de Rothschild, La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild S.A., and COGIFRANCE.

To this day, the family maintains a close relationship with the Rio Tinto mining corporation. The Rothschild family also owns many wine estates: their estates in France include Château Clarke, Château de Ferrières, Château des Fontaines, Château Lafite, Château de Laversine, Château des Laurets, Château Malmaison, Château de Montvillargenne, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château de la Muette, Château Rothschild d'Armainvilliers, Château Rothschild, Boulogne-Billancourt. They also own wine estates across North America, South America, South Africa and Australia.

In 1980, Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild resigned from N M Rothschild & Sons and took independent control of Rothschild Investment Trust (now RIT Capital Partners, one of the UK's largest investment trusts.) He went on to found J. Rothschild Assurance Group (now St James's Place Capital) with Sir Mark Weinberg in 1991.^[36] In December 2009, Jacob Rothschild invested $200 million of his own money in a North Sea Oil company. He also currently chairs another Rothschild family investment trust, RIT Capital Partners, which has reported assets of $3.4 billion in 2008.^[37][38] In January 2010, Nathaniel Philip Rothschild bought a substantial share of the Glencore mining and oil company's market capitalization. He is also buying a large share of the aluminium mining company United Company RUSAL.^[39]

Popular culture references

In the words of the Daily Telegraph: "This multinational banking family is a byword for wealth, power – and discretion... The Rothschild name has become synonymous with money and power to a degree that no other family has ever matched."^[40]

The story of the Rothschild family has been featured in a number of films. The 1934 Hollywood film titled The House of Rothschild, starring George Arliss and Loretta Young, recounted the life of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Excerpts from this film were incorporated into the National Socialist (Nazi) propaganda film Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) and another German film Die Rothschilds (also called Aktien auf Waterloo) was directed by Erich Waschneck in 1940. A Broadway musical entitled The Rothschilds, covering the history of the family up to 1818, was nominated for a Tony Award in 1971. Nathaniel Mayer ("Natty") Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild appears as a minor character in the historical-mystery novel Stone's Fall, by Iain Pears.

In France, the word "Rothschild" was throughout the 19th and 20th centuries a synonym for seemingly endless wealth, neo-Gothic styles, Byzantine splendour, grand manners and epicurean glamour.^[41] The family also has lent its name to "le goût Rothschild," a suffocatingly glamorous style of living whose decorative elements include neo-Renaissance palaces, extravagant use of velvet and gilding, vast collections of armour and sculpture, a sense of Victorian horror vacui, and the highest masterworks of art. Le goût Rothschild has much influenced interior designers such as Robert Denning, Vincent Fourcade, and others.

The name Rothschild used as a synonym for extreme wealth inspired the song "If I Were a Rich Man", which is based on a song from the Tevye the Dairyman stories, written in the Yiddish as Ven ikh bin Rotshild, meaning "If I were a Rothschild".

The German surnames "Rothschild" and "Rothchild" are not related to the Protestant surname "Rothchilds" from the United Kingdom. The surname "Rothschild" is originally derived from "Rote Schild". This is the German phrase for Red Shield and refers to the red shield emblem that used to be over the doorway to the original bank owned by the Bauer family in Frankfurt.

Conspiracy theories

Over more than two centuries,^[12][13] the Rothschild family has frequently been the target of conspiracy theories.^[42][43][44] These theories take differing forms, such as claiming that the family belongs to the Illuminati,^[45] or controls the world's wealth and financial institutions.^[46][47] Supposedly, the Rothschild family encouraged wars between governments. Discussing this and similar views, the historian Niall Ferguson wrote: "As we have seen, however, wars tended to hit the price of existing bonds by increasing the risk that a debtor state would fail to meet its interest payments in the event of defeat and losses of territory. By the middle of the 19th century, the Rothschilds had evolved from traders into fund managers, carefully tending to their own vast portfolio of government bonds. Now having made their money, they stood to lose more than they gained from conflict. The Rothschilds had decided the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars by putting their financial weight behind Britain. Now they would.. sit on the sidelines."^[48]

Prominent descendants of Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Prominent lineal descendants of Mayer Amschel Rothschild include amongst many others:

References

• Princess Agnès de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais, (born 1972)^{[citation needed]}
• Prince Alexandre Louis Philippe Marie Berthier, (1883–1918), died fighting in WW1
• Albert Salomon von Rothschild (1844–1911), the once majority shareholder of Creditanstalt
• Alfred Charles de Rothschild (20 July 1842 - 31 January 1918)
• Alice Charlotte von Rothschild (1847–1922) close friend of Queen Victoria
• Aline Caroline de Rothschild (1885–1909), French socialite
• Lady Aline Caroline Cholmondeley (1916-)^{[citation needed]}
• Baroness Alix Hermine Jeannette Schey de Koromla (1911–1982)^[49]
• Alphonse James de Rothschild (1827–1905)
• Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (1955–1996, Paris), patron of motor racing
• Princess Andréa de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais (born Paris 1972)^{[citation needed]}
• Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887–1961), horse-breeder
• Anthony James de Rothschild (born 1977)
• Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874), Austrian banker
• Anselm Alexander Carl de Rothschild (1835–1854)^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Anthony de Rothschild, 1st Baronet (1810–1876)
• Antoine Armand Odélric Marie Henri de Gramont, 13th Duke of Gramont, (1951-)^{[citation needed]}
• Alain James de Rothschild (1910–1982)^{[citation needed]}
• Lady Barbara Marie-Louise Constance Berry (born 1935)
• Count Armand de Cossé-Brissac (1967-)^{[citation needed]}
• Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild^{[citation needed]}
• Lord Charles Robert Archibald Grant^{[citation needed]}
• Ariane de Rothschild
• Ariella de Rothschild^{[citation needed]}
• Arthur de Rothschild (1851–1903)^{[citation needed]}
• Benjamin de Rothschild (born 1963, Paris)
• Princess Béatrice de Broglie (born 1913)^{[citation needed]}
• Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild (1864–1934)
• Bethsabée de Rothschild (1914–1999)
• Carl Mayer von Rothschild (1788–1855)
• Cécile Léonie Eugénie Gudule Lucie de Rothschild (1913-)^{[citation needed]}
• Charlotte de Rothschild
• Charlotte Henriette de Rothschild (born 1955), British opera singer
• Charlotte von Rothschild(1818–84)
• Count Charles-Emmanuel Lannes de Montebello (born 1942)^{[citation needed]}
• Charles Rothschild (1877–1923), banker and entomologist
• Constance Flower, 1st Baroness of Battersea, (1843–1931)^{[citation needed]}
• David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley (1960-), Lord Great Chamberlain of England
• David Mayer de Rothschild (b. 1978), billionaire^[50] British adventurer and environmentalist
• David René de Rothschild (born 1942)
• Diane Cécile Alice Juliette de Rothschild (1907-)^{[citation needed]}
• Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild
• Edouard Etienne de Rothschild, (born 1957)
• Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild (1868–1949) financier and polo player
• Prince Edouard de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais, (1949-)^{[citation needed]}
• Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934)
• Edmund Leopold de Rothschild (1916–2009)
• Elie de Rothschild (1917–2007)
• Princess Elisabeth de Broglie (1920-)^{[citation needed]}
• Emma Rothschild (born 1948)
• Evelina de Rothschild(1839–66)
• Evelyn Achille de Rothschild (1886–1917), died fighting for the British army in WW1
• Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (born 1931), banker
• Guy de Rothschild (1909–2007)
• Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898)
• Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery née Hannah Rothschild (1851–1890)
• Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, (1924–2001)
• Henri James de Rothschild (1872–1946)^{[citation needed]}
• Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (1898–1987)^{[citation needed]}
• Duke Hélie Marie Auguste Jacques Bertrand Philippe, (1943), 10th Duke of Noailles
• Henriette Rothschild (1791–1866) married Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885)
• Count Henri de Gramont (1909–1994)^{[citation needed]}
• Hugh Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley (1919–90), Lord Great Chamberlain of England
• Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, (born 1936), investment banker
• James Armand de Rothschild (1878–1957)
• James Mayer Rothschild (1792–1868)
• Lady Lavinia Anne Alix de Rothschild, of the Rothschild and Borghese family
• Marie-Hélène de Rothschild (1927–94), French socialite
• Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818–1874)
• Neil Primrose, 7th Earl of Rosebery (1929-)
• Neil James Archibald Primrose (1882–1917), MP, killed fighting in WW1
• Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter (née Baroness Pannonica Rothschild) (1913–1988), patron of bebop and jazz writer
• Baron Léon Lambert (1929–1987), Belgium art collector^{[citation needed]}
• Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917)
• Leopold David de Rothschild (1927-)
• Leonora de Rothschild (1837–1911)^{[citation needed]}
• Lionel Nathan Rothschild (1808–1879)
• Louis Nathaniel de Rothschild (1882–1955)
• Countess Magdalene-Sophie von Attems, (1927-)^{[citation needed]}
• Miriam Louisa Rothschild (1908–2005), famous entomologist and zoologist
• Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild of the United Kingdom (1868–1937)
• Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812–1870)
• Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836)
• Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild of the United Kingdom (1840–1915)
• Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild of the United Kingdom (born 1936)
• Nathaniel Robert de Rothschild (1946), French financier
• Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild of the United Kingdom (1910–1990)
• Nathaniel Philip Rothschild (born 1971), a co-chairman of Atticus Capital, a £20 billion hedge fund ^[51]
• Nathaniel Anselm von Rothschild (1836–1905), Austrian socialite
• Sir Philip Sassoon, 3rd Baronet (1888–1939), British First Commissioner of Works and Under-Secretary of State for Air
• Count Philippe de Nicolay, (born 1955)^{[citation needed]}
• Philippe de Rothschild (1902–1988), vintner
• Philippine de Rothschild (born 1935), vintner
• Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild, born November 6, 1911, chess and tennis champion
• Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery (1882–1974) Earl of Roseberry
• Raphael de Rothschild (1976–2000)^{[citation needed]}
• Salomon James de Rothschild, (1835–1864)
• Lady Serena Dunn Rothschild, (born 1935)
• Countess Sophie von Löwenstein-Scharffeneck, (1896–1978)^{[citation needed]}
• Lady Sybil Grant (1879–1955), British writer
• Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, (1894–1989)
• Valentine Noémi von Springer, (1886, d. 1969)^{[citation needed]}
• Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
• Victoria Katherine Rothschild (1953-)^{[citation needed]}
• Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, zoologist
• Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild^{[citation needed]}

Prominent marriages into the family include, amongst many others:

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• Maurice Ephrussi (1849–1916), of the Ephrussi banking dynasty
• Ben Goldsmith (1980-), son of financier James Goldsmith
• Anita Patience Guinness (1957), of the Guinness family, married Amschel Mayor James Rothschild^[52]
• Cora Guggenheim (1873–1956), of the Guggenheim family, married Louis F. Rothschild (1869–1957)
• Abraham Oppenheim (1804–1878), of the Oppenheim Family, married Charlotte Beyfus (1811–1887)
• Elisabeth de Rothschild (1902–1945), (born Pelletier de Chambure), the only member of the Rothschild family to die in the holocaust.
• Aline Caroline de Rothschild (1865–1909) married Sir Edward Sassoon, 2nd Baronet, of Kensington Gore (1856–1912), of the Sassoon family
• Antoine Alfred Agénor, 11th Duc de Gramont, (1851–1921)^{[citation needed]}
• Dorothy de Rothschild (1895–1988), on her death she left the largest probated estate in Britain
• Pauline de Rothschild (1908–1976), fashion designer and translator of Elizabethan poetry
• Lady Irma Pauahi Wodehouse (1897), of the Wodehouse family^[53]
• Prince Louis Philippe Berthier, (1836–1911)^{[citation needed]}
• Jeanne de Rothschild (1908–2003), actress
• Liliane de Rothschild (1916–2003) art collector
• Princess Olimpia Anna Aldobrandini, of the House of Borghese, House of Aldobrandini and the House of Bonaparte^[53]
• Richard Francis Roger Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron Churston of Churston Ferrers and Lupton, (1910–1991), married Olga Alice Muriel Rothschild
• Serena Dunn Rothschild (b. 1935), grand-daughter of Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet
• Lynn Forester de Rothschild (born 1954), business woman
• Carola Warburg Rothschild (1894–1987), philanthropist, born into the Warburg family^[54]
• Edward Maurice Stonor (1885–1930), son of Francis Stonor, 4th Baron Camoys^{[citation needed]}
• Lady Pamela Wellesley Grant, (born 1912), great-great-grand-daughter of The Duke of Wellington, married Lieutenant Charles Robert Archibald Grant, great-great-grandson of Mayer Amschel de Rothschild
• Baroness Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein^{[citation needed]}
• Count Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt of the House of Van Zuylen van Nijevelt (married Baroness Hélène de Rothschild (1863–1947))^{[citation needed]}.

 See also

• De Beers
• Rio Tinto Mining Group
• Avenue Foch
• Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild
• Bethmanns and Rothschilds
• Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey
• Château Lafite-Rothschild
• Château Mouton Rothschild
• Palais Rothschild
• Rothschild (Fabergé egg)
• Rothschild properties in England
• Hotel Lambert
• Cecil John Rhodes
• Rockefeller family
• Old Money
• Ascott House
• The House of Rothschild (1934 film), addresses Rothschild roles in the Napoleonic era
• Notes

 Further reading

• Niall Ferguson: The House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets, 1798–1848 (ISBN 0-14-024084-5)
• Niall Ferguson: The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker, 1849–1998 (ISBN 0-14-028662-4)
• Frederic Morton: The Rothschilds: Portrait of a Dynasty (ISBN 1-56836-220-X)
• Amos Elon: Founder: A Portrait of the First Rothschild and His Time, 1996. (ISBN 0-670-86857-4)
• Egon Caesar Conte Corti: Rise of the House of Rothschild, B. Lunn (translator), Books for Business 2001 (reprint of 1928 translation published by Gollancz), ISBN 978-0894990588, Amazon.co.uk searchable online view
• Joseph Valynseele & Henri-Claude Mars, Le Sang des Rothschild, L’Intermédiaire des Chercheurs et Curieux, Paris, 2004 (ISBN 2-908003-22-8)
• Derek A. Wilson: Rothschild: A Story of Wealth and Power (ISBN 0-233-98870-X)

Documentary film

• Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World - The early history of the Rothschild's family business feature in the second of a four part series by Niall Ferguson, aired on Channel Four

 External links

• Official website of the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild
• Family website
• Chateau de Ferrieres Official website
• N. M. Rothschild and Sons
• LCF Rothschild Group
• Rothschild Archive
• Chateau Lafite Rothschild
• Chateau Mouton Rothschild
• Compagnie vinicole Baron Edmond de Rothschild
• Yahoo! - NM Rothschild & Sons Limited Company Profile
• Niall Ferguson: The House of Rothschild, vol. 1. Table of contents and beginning of first chapter.