Guy de Rothschild

Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild (pronounced: [baʁɔ̃ ɡi edwaːʁt‿alfɔ̃s pɔl də ʁɔt.ʃild]; 21 May 1909 – 12 June 2007) was a French banker and member of the Rothschild family. He chaired the bank Rothschild Frères from 1967 to 1979, when it was nationalized by the French government, and maintained possessions in other French and foreign companies including Imerys. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1985.

Early life and education

Baron Guy de Rothschild was born in Paris, the son of Baron Édouard de Rothschild (1868–1949) and his wife, the former Germaine Alice Halphen (1884–1975). He has three siblings. Guy's elder brother, Édouard Alphonse Émile Lionel (1906–1911), died at the age of four of appendicitis; he also had two younger sisters, Jacqueline and Bethsabée. Half of his great-grandparents were Rothschilds. He was a great-great grandson of the German patriarch of the Rothschild family Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743–1812), who founded the family's banking in the 18th century in Frankfurt, Germany.

Rothschild family

The Rothschild family is a wealthy family descending from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, a court Jew to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel, in the Free City of Frankfurt, who established his banking business in the 1760s. Unlike most previous court Jews, Rothschild managed to bequeath his wealth, and established an international banking family through his five sons, who established themselves in London, Paris, Vienna, Naples and modern Frankfurt.

During the 19th century, when at its height, the Rothschild family is believed by some to have possessed the largest private fortune in the world, as well as the largest private fortune in modern world history. The family's wealth is believed to have subsequently declined, as it was divided amongst hundreds of descendants. Today, Rothschild businesses are far less well known than they were throughout the 19th century, although they encompass a diverse range of fields, including financial services, real estate, mining, energy, mixed farming, wine and charities.