Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild | |
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Born |
Paris, France |
24 February 1868
Died | 30 June 1949 Paris, France |
(aged 81)
Residence | Paris, Ferrières-en-Brie |
Nationality | French |
Occupation | Financier, businessman, vineyard owner, art collector, racehorse owner/breeder |
Board member of | de Rothschild Frères, Banque de France, Château Lafite Rothschild |
Spouse(s) | Germaine Alice Halphen (m. 1905) |
Children | Édouard Alphonse Émile Lionel (1906–1911) Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul (1909–2007) Jacqueline Rebecca Louise (1911–2012) Bethsabée Louise Émilie Béatrice (1914–1999) |
Parent(s) | Alphonse de Rothschild (1827–1905) & Leonora de Rothschild (1837–1911) |
Olympic medal record | ||
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Men's polo | ||
Representing a Mixed team | ||
1900 Paris | Team competition |
Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild (24 February 1868 – 30 June 1949), also known as Baron Édouard de Rothschild was an aristocrat, French financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France.
Born in Paris, Édouard de Rothschild was the only son of Baron Alphonse James de Rothschild (1827–1905). His mother was Leonora de Rothschild (1837–1911), the daughter of Lionel de Rothschild of the English branch of the family. He was raised in a Paris mansion at 2 rue Saint-Florentin that is now home to the United States Embassy as well as at Château de Ferrières in the country.
Only a few months after Édouard's marriage, his father died and he formally took over the running of de Rothschild Frères bank. His grandfather and the French bank founder, James Mayer de Rothschild, had stipulated "that the three branches of the family descended from him always be represented." As such, Édouard would be joined by the sons of two different uncles: cousin Robert Philippe de Rothschild (1880–1946) and cousin Maurice de Rothschild (1881–1957). Édouard was cautious by nature and often old-fashioned in his ideas, an attitude which extended to his personal dress and office décor. Like his father, Édouard too was appointed a director of the Banque de France. In 1911, he negotiated a deal with Henri Deterding for his Royal Dutch Shell company to purchase the Rothschilds' Azerbaijan oil fields.