ABSTRACT
Henri de Rothschild (1872-1947) was the great grandson of the founding father of the French Rothschild enterprise, James Mayer (1792-1868), who settled in France in 1811. James Mayer established the first Rothschild hospital in Paris; it was later expanded and modernized by his son Edmond (1845-1934), an enthusiastic supporter of scientific research. Henri’s paternal grandfather, Nathaniel (181270), was the son of Nathan Mayer (1777-1836), who established the Rothschild business and bank in London. Nathaniel came to the Paris bank at the invitation of his uncle, James Mayer, married the artistic and socially prominent Charlotte (1825-99), James Mayer’s only daughter, and became a partner in the bank. James Edouard (1844-81), their son, married Laura Thérèse (1847-1931), one of the daughters of the Frankfurt Rothschilds, who were also seriously involved in medical activities.2 In the 1870s James Edouard set up an important medical establishment at Berck-sur-Mer; the hospital was lovingly tended and developed by his widow. Thérèse’s uncle Adolphe and aunt Julie later established an ophthalmological hospital in the northeast (19th arrondissement) of Paris. Deep in his medical studies, Henri escaped from his mother’s Paris compound in 1895 by marrying Mathilde de Weisweiller (1874-1926), daughter of the financier Georges de Weisweiller. Mathilde managed to integrate her fantastic social life with considerable charitable work and medical activity. The context of great wealth, closeness to political
power, family patronage of elite culture, and medical philanthropy makes up an important part of the social world into which Henri was born.
