Frédéric Émile d'Erlanger

Frédéric Émile, Baron d’Erlanger (born June 19, 1832 in Frankfurt am Main; died May 22, 1911 in Versailles) born as Friedrich Emil Erlanger, was a German banker and Consul.

Frédéric Émile Baron d'Erlanger was born to banker Raphael Erlanger and his young wife, Margarete Helene Albert (1800–1834). Just prior the birth of his eldest sister Susanne Adolphine (1829–1873), his father converted from Judaism to Christianity for his wife's sake. Susanne eventually married the Frankfurt merchant Franz Josef Carl Langenberger (1821–1878). As the eldest son, Friedrich Emil Erlanger became involved in extensive banking and bill transactions early in life. By age 19, he was so successful with his father in the brokerage business that he was appointed Consul General and fiscal agent at Paris by the Greek Government under Otto I. He visited the royal court in Stockholm and was involved in successful Swedish and Portuguese state financial negotiations. Queen Maria II of Portugal and her husband, Ferdinand II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, ennobled Raphael as a hereditary Portuguese Baron in order to thank Friedrich Emil, who would eventually inherit the title, for his services. Raphael was subsequently granted titles by the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and the Austrian Empire, who named him a hereditary baron and awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph. In 1853 Frederick Emil fell ill and withdrew from business activities. In order to restore his health, he began to conduct travelers to Greece and Egypt. Here he met the Suez Canal planner Lesseps and became fascinated by the idea of the Canal. After his recovery, he became a partner of his father's Frankfurt bank, Erlanger & Sons.

On 30 June 1858, Frederick Emil Erlanger married a young Parisian socialite, Florence Louise Odette Lafitte (1840–1931). Her grandfather, Jacques Laffitte, was a banker, governor of the Bank of France, Finance Minister, and Prime Minister of France temporarily. In 1859, d'Erlanger officially took over the business of the banking house in Paris. He changed his name and was afterwards called Frédéric Émile Baron d'Erlanger. His marriage failed, however. The couple had no children and they divorced in December 1862.

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