Élie de Rothschild
Élie de Rothschild | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Élie de Rothschild at Royaumont in 1994 | |
| Born | 29 May 1917 |
| Died | 6 August 2007 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | French |
| Spouse |
Liliane Fould-Springer (m. 1947; died 2003) |
| Children | Nathaniel de Rothschild (b. 1946) Nelly de Rothschild (b. 1947) Elisabeth de Rothschild (b. 1952) |
Élie Robert de Rothschild (29 May 1917 – 6 August 2007) was the guardian of the
claret
vineyard from 1946 to 1974.
Lineage
Élie de Rothschild was the younger son of Baron
Elysée Palace
in Paris.
World War II service
He and his brother served as officers in a cavalry regiment—the Anciens 11èmes Cuirassiers—when
POW camps. There, he was reunited with his brother. Despite being persons of Jewish descent, both were treated by the Wehrmacht
as captured officers. He was released in early 1944. Elie later recounted that, despite the harsh condition of the prison, he had been treated well and respectfully throughout.
While in Colditz, Élie had written to his childhood sweetheart Baroness
Liliane Fould-Springer
and asked her to marry him, which they did by proxy by 1942—Élie being allowed to take his marriage vows while imprisoned. Her mother thought her foolish to take on the Rothschild name with the Nazis in control of France. However, they were not troubled during the Nazi occupation. The Fould-Springers had extensive interests in Austria, and one branch of the family owned Château Beychevelle, a Bordeaux estate close to Château Lafite in Pauillac in the Médoc.
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
Canova, he researched its history, and found out that, for a while, it had been in the Hotel Massaran, attributed to Carpeaux
.
Élie and his brother assisted their cousin,
Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
(PLM) in 1956, diversifying into hotels, motels and restaurants.
Offshore business
He built a web of at least 20 secrecy-cloaked
Offshore leaks revealed at least 20 trusts and 10 holding companies were set up for Rothschild in the Cook Islands, with typically opaque names including, fittingly, ″Anon Trust″. The companies have a common shareholder called ″Mandalor Limited″, an equally opaque company based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.
Élie was a friend of
Prince Aly Khan and Gianni Agnelli. In 1954, when Liliane was out of town, Élie was introduced to divorcée 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. When the Duke of Windsor asked her: "Which Rothschild is the lover of Pamela Churchill?' she replied: "My husband, Sir".[citation needed] This remark undermined Pamela as much as any other retributive strikes and presently the affair receded.[1] His nephew Éric de Rothschild
, son of Alain, took over at Château Lafite-Rothschild in 1974.
Death
Élie died of a
heart attack when on vacation at his hunting lodge near the village of Scharnitz outside Innsbruck in Austria. His wife predeceased him in 2003. His son is married to Nili Limon, the daughter of Mordechai Limon, commander of the Israel Navy in the 1950s.[2]
References
- ^ Vickers, Hugo (9 August 2007). "Baron Elie de Rothschild". The Independent. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ Haaretz: "Russian billionaire takes a local interest" by Moti Bassok and Sophie Shulman March 25, 2004
Sources
- 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
- Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 7 August 2007
- Obituary, The Times, 8 August 2007
- Obituary, The Independent, 9 August 2007
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