Élisabeth de Rothschild
Élisabeth, Baroness de Rothschild (née Pelletier de Chambure; a.k.a. Lili; 9 March 1902 – 23 March 1945) was a member by marriage of the wine-making branch of the
Biography
Born in Paris as Élisabeth Pelletier de Chambure, into a wealthy
In 1923, Élisabeth Pelletier de Chambure married Jonkheer Marc Edouard Marie de Becker-Rémy , a Belgian aristocrat. They had a son, Edouard Jacques Marie Augustin (1924-1984),[1] and a daughter, Philippine Mathilde Camille (1933-2014), though the latter's biological father was French baron Philippe de Rothschild. Rothschild was a member of the prominent banking family and the owner of one of France's most famous vineyards, Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac in the Médoc; he was also a cousin by marriage of her husband.
On 22 January 1934, immediately after her divorce from Becker-Rémy, Élisabeth married Philippe de Rothschild. She converted to Judaism from Catholicism, and the religious ceremony was conducted by Julien Weill, the grand rabbi of Paris.[2] In addition to their daughter, the Rothschilds had a son, Charles Henri (born and died in 1938). Philippe's memoirs (Milady Vine, written in collaboration with British director Joan Littlewood) describe his marriage to Élisabeth as one of great passion but also enormous tempestuousness and despair. The couple's difficulties increased when their son was born deformed and soon died. They eventually separated acrimoniously, and by 1939, the baroness reverted to using her maiden name of Pelletier de Chambure.
Following the
On his return to France following the Allies' liberation, Philippe de Rothschild learned that the Gestapo had, on charges of attempting to cross a line of demarcation with a forged permit, deported his estranged wife in 1941 to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she died – the cause of her death remains unresolved – on 23 March 1945. Élisabeth reportedly died of epidemic typhus on 23 March 1945 at Ravensbrück, though Philippe's memoir states that she was thrown into a concentration-camp oven, alive.[citation needed]
Notes
References
- Valynseele, Joseph; Mars, Henri-Claude (2004). Le Sang des Rothschild (in French). Paris: ICC Editions.
- Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Milady Vine, Jonathan Cape, London, 1984.
External links
- Media related to Élisabeth de Rothschild at Wikimedia Commons