Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
Encyclopedia
Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE
, TD
(2 January 1916 – 17 January 2009) was an English
financier
, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England
, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour
(VMH), given by the Royal Horticultural Society
.
Born in Westminster, London
, he was the second child and first son of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
(1882–1942) and Marie Louise Eugénie de Rothschild née Beer (1892–1975). Widely known as Eddy de Rothschild, he graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge
, after which he traveled the world. Returning home, he went to work at the N M Rothschild & Sons
bank but shortly thereafter World War II
broke out and he joined the British Army
. An artillery officer in the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
, he served with the British Expeditionary Force
in France
then fought in the North African Campaign
and in Italy
with the 77th Field (Highland) Regiment, then became a major in the newly formed Jewish Infantry Brigade.
In May 1946 Rothschild was demobilised and once back home in England he returned to work at N M Rothschild & Sons. As his father had died in 1942, he was then a partner but one with very little experience. Tutored by his uncle Anthony Gustav de Rothschild
, he played a key role in the continuing success of the bank, and became its Chairman from 1970 to 1975. An aggressive business developer, during his career Rothschild flew the Atlantic Ocean
more than four hundred times playing a key role in developing British interests in postwar Japan and was a significant part of the Rothschild syndicate that formed the British Newfoundland Development Corporation
to undertake mineral exploration in Labrador
, Canada
and to develop the Churchill Falls
hydro-electric dam.
On 22 June 1948 Rothschild married Elizabeth Edith Lentner (1923–1980). They had the following children:
From his father, Rothschild had inherited Exbury Gardens
in Hampshire
which had fallen into severe disrepair as a result of the War. While pursuing a career in banking, he also set about restoring the renowned 200 acre (0.809372 km²) gardens. Edmund's expertise became such that in the 1950s and 1960s he served on the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society
.
Elizabeth Lentner de Rothschild died in 1980 and Edmund remarried in 1982 to Anne Kitching (b. 1921).
Over the years he was involved in a number of philanthropic
causes and in recognition of his services, the New Year Honours 1997
made Rothschild a Commander of the British Empire
. Still active into his nineties, he was President of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX). In 1998, he appeared in the Chuck Olin documentary film
titled In Our Own Hands that told the story of the only all-Jewish fighting force in World War II.
Like other members of the Rothschild family, he was an art collector, but the maintenance and development of the Exbury gardens was his most important pastime. In 2001, the American Rhododendron Society in Eugene, Oregon
awarded him a citation in appreciation of his many services to the horticultural world. In 2005, the Royal Horticultural Society
bestowed on him the Victoria Medal of Honour
, the highest accolade in the British gardening world.
Rothschild established a charitable trust to manage Exbury Gardens with which his children are involved.
In 1949 he published Window on the World, an account of his world tour of 1937–39. His autobiography was published in 1998.
He died in 2009 at the age of 93.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, TD
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
(2 January 1916 – 17 January 2009) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England
Rothschild banking family of England
The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour
Victoria Medal of Honour
The Victoria Medal of Honour is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society...
(VMH), given by the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
.
Born in Westminster, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he was the second child and first son of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was an English banker and Conservative politician best remembered as the creator of Exbury Gardens...
(1882–1942) and Marie Louise Eugénie de Rothschild née Beer (1892–1975). Widely known as Eddy de Rothschild, he graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, after which he traveled the world. Returning home, he went to work at the N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
bank but shortly thereafter World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out and he joined the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. An artillery officer in the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry was formed in 1794, when King George III was on the throne and William Pitt the Younger was the Prime Minister, of Great Britain. Across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation which had recently guillotined its King and which possessed a...
, he served with the British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
then fought in the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with the 77th Field (Highland) Regiment, then became a major in the newly formed Jewish Infantry Brigade.
In May 1946 Rothschild was demobilised and once back home in England he returned to work at N M Rothschild & Sons. As his father had died in 1942, he was then a partner but one with very little experience. Tutored by his uncle Anthony Gustav de Rothschild
Anthony Gustav de Rothschild
Anthony Gustav de Rothschild was a British banker and member of the Rothschild banking family. Born in London, England, he was the third and youngest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild and Marie Perugia...
, he played a key role in the continuing success of the bank, and became its Chairman from 1970 to 1975. An aggressive business developer, during his career Rothschild flew the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
more than four hundred times playing a key role in developing British interests in postwar Japan and was a significant part of the Rothschild syndicate that formed the British Newfoundland Development Corporation
British Newfoundland Development Corporation
The British Newfoundland Development Corporation, or BRINCO was incorporated by a consortium of British companies in 1953 which undertook industrial development opportunities in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador...
to undertake mineral exploration in Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and to develop the Churchill Falls
Churchill Falls
Churchill Falls are waterfalls named after former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. They are high, located on the Churchill River in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada....
hydro-electric dam.
On 22 June 1948 Rothschild married Elizabeth Edith Lentner (1923–1980). They had the following children:
- Katherine Juliette (b. 1949), who married Marcus AgiusMarcus AgiusMarcus Ambrose Paul Agius is a British financier and businessman, currently the Chairman of Barclays. He has also been appointed the senior non-executive director on the BBC's new executive board.-Biography:...
- Nicholas David (b. 1951)
- David Lionel (b. 1955) (twin)
- Charlotte HenrietteCharlotte Henriette de RothschildCharlotte Henriette de Rothschild is a British soprano specializing in the recital and oratorio repertoire who is a member of the Rothschild banking family of England. The second daughter of the four children of Edmund Leopold de Rothschild and Elizabeth Edith Rothschild née Lentner , she is a...
(b. 1955) (twin)
From his father, Rothschild had inherited Exbury Gardens
Exbury Gardens
Exbury Gardens is a famous garden in Hampshire, England, which belongs to a branch of the Rothschild family. It is situated in the village of Exbury, just to the east of Beaulieu across the river from Bucklers Hard...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
which had fallen into severe disrepair as a result of the War. While pursuing a career in banking, he also set about restoring the renowned 200 acre (0.809372 km²) gardens. Edmund's expertise became such that in the 1950s and 1960s he served on the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
.
Elizabeth Lentner de Rothschild died in 1980 and Edmund remarried in 1982 to Anne Kitching (b. 1921).
Over the years he was involved in a number of philanthropic
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
causes and in recognition of his services, the New Year Honours 1997
New Year Honours 1997
The New Year Honours 1997 for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong were announced on 31 December 1996, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1997....
made Rothschild a Commander of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. Still active into his nineties, he was President of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX). In 1998, he appeared in the Chuck Olin documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
titled In Our Own Hands that told the story of the only all-Jewish fighting force in World War II.
Like other members of the Rothschild family, he was an art collector, but the maintenance and development of the Exbury gardens was his most important pastime. In 2001, the American Rhododendron Society in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
awarded him a citation in appreciation of his many services to the horticultural world. In 2005, the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
bestowed on him the Victoria Medal of Honour
Victoria Medal of Honour
The Victoria Medal of Honour is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society...
, the highest accolade in the British gardening world.
Rothschild established a charitable trust to manage Exbury Gardens with which his children are involved.
In 1949 he published Window on the World, an account of his world tour of 1937–39. His autobiography was published in 1998.
He died in 2009 at the age of 93.