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Guy de Rothschild

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Guy de Rothschild
Born
Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild

(1909-05-21) 21 May 1909 (age 117)
Paris, France
Died12 June 2007(2007-06-12) (aged 98)
Occupation(s)Financier, banker, art collector, philanthropist
Years active1931–1982
Known forChairman of Banque Rothschild (1967–1979), member of the Rothschild banking family of France
Notable workThe Whims of Fortune: The Memoirs of Guy de Rothschild (1985)

Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild (21 May 1909 – 12 June 2007) was a prominent French financier and a member of the Rothschild banking family of France. He led the French Banque Rothschild as chairman from 1967 until 1979, prior to its nationalization in 1982. His portfolio included stakes in various French and global enterprises, such as Imerys. In 1985, he earned a place in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Born in Paris to Baron Édouard de Rothschild and Germaine Alice Halphen, Guy had three siblings. His older brother passed away at a young age, leaving him with two younger sisters, Jacqueline and Bethsabée. He descended directly from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the family’s banking empire, as his great-great grandson.

His upbringing alternated between the family’s Paris residence on rue de Rivoli and the rural Château de Ferrières, an estate designed by Joseph Paxton in the mid-19th century. His education included attendance at Lycée Condorcet and Lycée Louis-le-Grand, complemented by private tutoring. Guy fulfilled his military duties serving with the cavalry in Saumur and was a skilled golfer, securing victory at the Grand Prix de Sud-Ouest in 1948.

Personal life

Guy de Rothschild entered into two marriages:

  • In 1937, he married his distant cousin Baroness Alix Hermine Jeanette Schey de Koromla; they had one son, David René de Rothschild (born 1942). The couple divorced in 1956.
  • The following year, he wed Baroness Marie-Hélène van Zuylen van Nyevelt, also a distant relative and former spouse of Count François de Nicolay. They had one son together, Baron Édouard de Rothschild (born 1957).

Following his second marriage, Guy undertook extensive renovations of Château de Ferrières and hosted extravagant gatherings during the early 1970s. In 1975, he gifted the château to the University of Paris. That same year, he acquired the Hôtel Lambert in Paris and established his residence on its upper floors.

Service in World War II

During the German occupation of France in 1940, Guy’s family relocated to New York City. As a company commander in the French Army’s 3rd Light Mechanised Division during the Battle of France, he earned the Croix de Guerre for his valor at Dunkirk. After evacuation to England, he returned to France to oversee family interests near Clermont-Ferrand.

The Vichy regime revoked his family’s citizenship and compelled them to liquidate assets; however, Guy arranged for repurchase options. He escaped through Spain and Portugal to reunite with his family in New York and joined the Free French Forces. In 1943, after surviving a torpedo attack at sea, he served on General Koenig’s staff at SHAEF near Portsmouth.

Banking and business

Before joining de Rothschild Frères in 1931, Guy pursued legal studies. Upon his father’s death in 1949, he assumed leadership of the family bank. Early in his career, he joined the executive board of the Northern Railway Company in 1933. After World War II, he returned to Paris and modernized the bank from a guardian of family wealth into a contemporary financial institution—an evolution recognized by his appearance on Time magazine’s cover in 1963.

He held a directorship at the Banque de France and inherited part ownership of Château Lafite-Rothschild, though management was not under his control. From 1953 until 1962, Georges Pompidou—who later became French President and Prime Minister—served as general manager of the bank under Guy’s leadership. The bank diversified under his tenure from investment services into retail banking by establishing Banque Rothschild branches throughout France; he was president from 1968 to 1978.

In 1968, Guy became a partner at London-based N M Rothschild & Sons, while his cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild joined Banque Rothschild’s board in Paris.

Imetal S.A.

In France, Rothschild established Compagnie Française des Minerais d'Uranium, which became the nation's foremost private uranium mining enterprise. In 1961, Guy de Rothschild assumed the role of Chairman at Imetal S.A., a company in which the family maintained a substantial ownership interest, marking their initial direct involvement in corporate management. This mining conglomerate controlled Société Le Nickel (SLN) based in New Caledonia. By 1969, SLN expanded by acquiring the Chilean mining firm Peñarroya, known for its production of lead, zinc, and copper. Two years afterward, SLN further extended its portfolio by absorbing La Compagnie de Mokta, which specialized in iron, manganese, and uranium extraction. Rothschild streamlined these mining assets by merging Peñarroya into SLN.

Nationalization

During the early 1970s, the French government undertook nationalization of critical sectors, designating nickel as a strategic resource. In 1974, SLN’s holdings were nationalized under Société Metallurgique; however, Rothschild retained a 50% ownership in SLN. The Rothschild bank itself was nationalized in 1982 under President François Mitterrand’s socialist administration, prompting Guy de Rothschild to temporarily relocate to New York. Following changes in government policy, David René de Rothschild and Éric de Rothschild—Guy's son and nephew—reestablished the family’s banking operations by founding Rothschild & Cie Banque in 1987.

Thoroughbred racing

Guy de Rothschild was a distinguished breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses through the family’s Haras de Meautry estate located in Normandy. He inherited Château de Reux within Lower Normandy’s renowned horse breeding region and was responsible for producing celebrated horses such as Exbury. From 1975 to 1982, he served as president of France’s racehorse breeders association.

Notable triumphs achieved by horses owned by the Rothschild family include:

Art collector

The Rothschild family of France distinguished themselves as prominent art patrons, starting with James Mayer de Rothschild. Among their treasures was Jan Vermeer's The Astronomer, inherited by Guy de Rothschild. This masterpiece was seized by the Nazi regime in 1940 but was restored to the family in 1945. Eventually, the painting found a permanent home at the Louvre Museum in 1983.

Philanthropy

In 1950, Guy de Rothschild was appointed as the inaugural president of the Fonds Social Juif Unifié (FSJU), an umbrella organization encompassing approximately 200 Jewish social, educational, and cultural groups. He maintained leadership of the FSJU until 1982, when his son David succeeded him. The FSJU played a vital role in revitalizing the Jewish community in France following the devastation of World War II. After his 1957 marriage to Marie-Hélène van Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, a Roman Catholic, Guy stepped down from his position as President of the Jewish Consistory, which serves as the official body representing French Jewry.

In 1975, Guy and his spouse gifted the Château de Ferrières to the University of Paris.

Death

Guy de Rothschild passed away in 2007, having been widowed since 1996.

Works

  • The Whims of Fortune: The Memoirs of Guy de Rothschild (Random House, 1985) / Contre bonne fortune (Belfond, 1983)
  • The relationship between business and government in France (Carnegie-Mellon University Press, 1983)
  • Le fantôme de Léa: Roman (Plon, 1998)
  • Mon ombre siamoise (Grasset, 1993)

See also

Further reading

External links

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