- Élie de Rothschild
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name = Élie de Rothschild
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birth_date = birth date|1917|5|29
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death_date = death date and age|2007|8|6|1917|5|29
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nationality = flag|FranceBaron Élie de Rothschild (29 May 1917 –6 August 2007 ) was a Frenchbanker , a member of the French branch of theRothschild family . He followed his father as a partner in the family bank,de Rothschild Frères , and ran theChâteau Lafite-Rothschild premier cru claret vineyard from 1946 to 1974.Lineage
Élie de Rothschild was the younger son of Baron
Robert Philippe de Rothschild and Nelly Beer. His father was a partner in de Rothschild Frères with his cousin, BaronEdouard Alphonse de Rothschild . His mother was the daughter ofEdmond Beer , a great-great-niece of the composerGiacomo Meyerbeer , and elder sister of Marie-Louise Beer, who marriedLionel Nathan de Rothschild from the English branch of the Rothschild family. Élie and his siblings (Diane, Alain and Cécile) were brought up atChâteau de Laversine , near Chantilly, and at the family mansion at 23 avenue de Marigny near theElysée Palace in Paris.World War II service
He and his brother served as officers in a cavalry regiment—the "Anciens 11èmes Cuirassiers"—when Nazi Germany invaded France in 1940. Both were captured by the Germans close to the Belgian border during
World War II . Élie was taken to aprisoner of war camp atNienberg nearHamburg . After being discovered planning to escape, he was taken toColditz Castle , then toLübeck , one of the toughestPOW camp s. There, he was reunited with his brother. As persons of Jewish descent, both were fortunate in being treated as captured officers, thus avoiding theextermination camps .While in Colditz, Élie had written to his childhood sweetheart
Liliane Fould-Springer (a future grandaunt ofHelena Bonham Carter ) and asked her to marry him, which they did by proxy by 1942. Her mother thought her foolish to take on the Rothschild name with the Nazis in control of France.Post-war life
After the war, Élie, Alain and their wives shared the family mansion at avenue de Marigny, which had been used as the
Luftwaffe headquarters during the war. Élie and his family moved to 11 rue Masseran in the 1950s, where he displayed his great collection of art, including works byRembrandt , Gainsborough,Dubuffet andPicasso .Élie and his brother assisted their cousin,
Guy de Rothschild , to rebuild the de Rothschild Frères investment bank, and itsCompagnie du chemins de fer du Nord subsidiary. Élie took charge of Château Lafite-Rothschild, the premier cruPauillac vineyard in theMédoc , in 1946, which he owned jointly with Alain, Guy and their English cousinJimmy de Rothschild . Élie became president of the family'sCompagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) in 1956, diversifying into hotels, motels and restaurants.Élie was a friend of
Prince Aly Khan andGianni Agnelli . In 1954, when Liliane was out of town, Élie was introduced to divorcee Pamela Churchill (later Pamela Harriman). According to Élie, "She was sweet, charming and pretty. I wanted to go to bed with her and I did." Nevertheless, Liliane quickly saw off her rival.His nephew
Eric de Rothschild , son of Alain, took over at Château Lafite-Rothschild in 1974.Death
Élie died of a
heart attack when on vacation at hishunting lodge near the village ofScharnitz outsideInnsbruck inAustria . His wife predeceased him in 2003. He was survived by a son, Nathaniel, and two daughters, Elisabeth and Nelly.He was also survived by a daughter, who has taken the family name. [David Patrick Columbia. [http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/2354 New York Social Diary: Remembering A Rothschild] . Retrieved
28 February 2008 . "She is Ondine, born in 1979 when he was in his early 60s, from his long and very well known liaison with the beautiful Paris antiquaire Ariane Dandois." Ondine graduated from Princeton in the Class of 2001. Her birth "was known to the international media who reported on his death, and never mentioned it. Presumably such an omission is carried out in the name of tradition or "the family" or whatever it was that his generation and those that came before him paid lip service too." ]References
ources
* [http://www.respectance.com/BaronElieDeRothschild Mssr. Rothschild's Tribute at Respectance.com]
* "Reflected Glory: the Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman", Sally Bedell Smith, 1996. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80950-8
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/07/db0702.xml Obituary, "The Daily Telegraph",7 August 2007]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2217673.ece Obituary, "The Times",8 August 2007]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2846529.ece Obituary, "The Independent",9 August 2007]
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