View source for Edmond James de Rothschild

{{Short description|French member of the Rothschild banking family}}
{{Distinguish|Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Baron]]
| name               = Edmond James de Rothschild
| image              = Edmond James de Rothschild.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1845|8|19|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Boulogne-Billancourt]], France
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1934|11|2|1845|8|19|df=y}}
| death_place        = Boulogne-Billancourt, France
| resting_place      = [[Ramat HaNadiv|Ramat HaNadiv (Israel)]]<br>[[Père Lachaise Cemetery|Père Lachaise (France)]] (1935–1954)
| nationality        = French
| spouse             = {{Marriage|[[Adelheid von Rothschild]]|1877}}
| partner            = 
| children           = [[James de Rothschild (politician)|James Armand de Rothschild]]<br>[[Maurice de Rothschild]]<br>[[Alexandrine de Rothschild]]
| parents            = [[James Mayer Rothschild]]<br> [[Betty von Rothschild]]
| relatives          = 
| signature          = 
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild''' ({{Langx|he|הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין  ג'יימס  רוטשילד|HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield}}; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild banking family]]. A strong supporter of [[Zionism]], his large donations lent significant support to the first Jewish settlements in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (the [[First Aliyah]]), which eventually led to the establishment of the [[Israel|State of Israel]]{{--}}where he is simply known as "'''Baron Rothschild'''", "HaBaron" ({{lit.|The Baron}}), or "Hanadiv Hayeduah" ({{lit.|The noble philanthropist}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Penslar |first=Derek Jonathan |title=Zionism and technocracy: the engineering of Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918 |date=1991 |publisher=Indiana university press |isbn=978-0-253-34290-4 |series=The Modern Jewish experience |location=Bloomington Indianapolis |pages=23}}</ref>

== Early years ==
Rothschild was born in the Paris suburb of [[Boulogne-Billancourt]], [[Hauts-de-Seine]], the youngest child of [[James Mayer Rothschild]] and [[Betty von Rothschild]]. He grew up as the son of the patriarch of [[Rothschild banking family of France|the French branch]] of the Rothschild banking dynasty in the world of the [[Second French Republic|Second Republic]] and the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]], and served in the “[[Garde Mobile]]" in the [[Franco-Prussian War]].

== Artistic and philanthropic interests ==
[[File:החותם האישי של אדמונד דה-רוטשילד Edmond De Rothschild seal monogram.jpg|thumb|Edmond de Rothschild's [[wax seal]] with his [[monogram]] and a [[heraldry|heraldic]] [[coronet]] symbolising his rank as a [[baron]]]]

=== Art, science and academy ===
Edmond de Rothschild inherited [[Château Rothschild]] in Boulogne-Billancourt and, in 1877, acquired the [[Château d'Armainvilliers]] in [[Gretz-Armainvilliers]] in the [[Seine-et-Marne]] ''[[département]].''<ref name="rothschildarchive">{{cite web |title=Château d'Armainvilliers, Seine-et-Marne, France |url=https://family.rothschildarchive.org/estates/22-chateau-d-armainvilliers |website=family.rothschildarchive.org |publisher=[[Rothschild Family]] |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref>

Edmond took little active part in banking but pursued artistic and philanthropic interests, helping to found scientific research institutions such as the [[Institut Henri Poincaré]], the [[Institut de biologie physico-chimique|Institut de Biologie physico-chimique]], the pre-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Casa Velázquez in [[Madrid]], and the French Institute in London. In 1907, as a cofounder member, he also provided funds and support for the foundation of the [[Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris|Friends of the French National Museum of Natural History Society]].<ref>Yves Laissus, "Cent ans d'histoire", ''1907-2007 - Les Amis du Muséum'', centennial special, September 2007, supplement to the quarterly publication ''[[Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris|Les Amis du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]]'', n° 230, June 2007, ISSN 1161-9104 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> He served as a member of the French [[Académie des Beaux-Arts]] and through it sponsored the archaeological digs of [[Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau]] in [[Egypt]], Eustache de Lorey in Ottoman Syria, and [[Raymond Weill]] in Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Edmond de Rothschild acquired an important collection of [[drawing]]s and [[engraving]]s that he bequeathed to the [[Louvre]] consisting of more than 40,000 engravings, nearly 3,000 drawings, and 500 illustrated books. Included in this gift were more than one hundred engravings and drawings by [[Rembrandt]]. A portion of his art collection was bequeathed to his son James A. de Rothschild and is now part of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] collection at [[Waddesdon Manor]]. However, in 1882 Edmond cut back on his purchases of art and began to buy land in Ottoman Palestine.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Rothschild also sponsored archaeological excavations, including those undertaken by [[Judith Marquet-Krause]] at [[Et-Tell]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Naeh |first=Liat |date=2020-09-25 |title=#EOTalks 10: Archaeological Display and Omission: The 1936 Exhibition of Judith Krause-Marquet's Finds from A-Tell (Biblical Ha-Ai) at the Crossroad of British, Palestinian, and Israeli Perspectives by LIAT NAEH |url=https://everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/eotalks-10-archaeological-display-and-omission-the-1936-exhibition-of-judith-krause-marquets-finds-from-a-tell-biblical-ha-ai-at-the-crossroad-of-british-palestinian-and-israeli-per/ |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Everyday Orientalism |language=en}}</ref>

===World Travel===

In 1898 he commissioned naval architect [[George Lennox Watson]] of [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]] to build the huge luxury steam yacht SY 'Atmah' (1665 tons) in which he and his sons used to tour the world until 1939.<ref>The Steam Yachts by Erik Hofman ISBN 0-8286-0040-6</ref>

=== Zionism ===
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 3876 Visit Habaron Rothschild.JPG|thumb|Visit of [[Adelheid von Rothschild|Adelheid]] and Edmond James de Rothschild to [[Palestine]] in 1914]]
[[File:רוטשילד והנציב הרברט סמואל-JNF021364.jpeg|thumb|Edmond de Rothschild with High Commissioner [[Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel|Herbert Samuel]], [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]], 1920]]
Although he remained separate from the [[Zionism|Zionist movement]], and "rejected institutional and ideological Zionism," The Baron Rothschild became an avid supporter of Jewish settlement in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] financing the site at [[Rishon LeZion]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Penslar |first=Derek Jonathan |title=Zionism and technocracy: the engineering of Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918 |date=1991 |publisher=Indiana university press |isbn=978-0-253-34290-4 |series=The Modern Jewish experience |location=Bloomington Indianapolis |pages=4, 18, 20–23}}</ref> In his goal for the establishment of Palestine as a home for Jewish settlement, he promoted industrialization and economic development. In 1924, he established the [[Palestine Jewish Colonization Association]] (PICA), which acquired more than {{convert|125000|acres|0|abbr=on}} of land and set up business ventures.

Edmond de Rothschild also played a pivotal role in establishing the [[Yishuv]]'s wine industry. Under the supervision of his administrators in [[History of Palestine#Restoration of Ottoman control|Ottoman Palestine]], farm colonies and vineyards were established, and two major wineries were opened in Rishon LeZion and [[Zikhron Ya'akov]].<ref>''Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel'', vol. 2, "Rothschild, Baron Edmond-James de", p. 966</ref> Rothschild funded a glass factory that would supply bottles for his wineries. Rothschild met [[Meir Dizengoff]] in Paris and chose Dizengoff to launch and manage the new factory, called Mizaga. Dizengoff opened the factory in [[Tantura]] in 1892 and managed the factory for approximately two years. Mizaga was the first Jewish-owned factory in [[History of Palestine#Restoration of Ottoman control|Ottoman Palestine]].

Rothschild also backed research in electricity by engineers and financed the development of an electric generating station.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}

According to historian [[Albert Montefiore Hyamson|Albert M. Hyamson]], "Rothschild recognised that the overriding interest of Palestinian Jews was the confidence and the friendship of their Arab neighbours. The interests of the Arab cultivators of the land he bought were never overlooked, but by development he made this land capable of maintaining a population ten times its former size."<ref>[[Albert Montefiore Hyamson|Hyamson, Albert M]]. ''[[Palestine: A Policy]]'', Methuen, 1942 p. 58</ref> While Edmond de Rothschild was not always supportive of an inclusive government—he suggested in 1931 to [[Judah Magnes]] that "We must hold them (the Arabs) down with a strong hand"<ref>Daniel P. Kotzin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oq13SoIN6W8C&pg=PA239 ''Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist''], Syracuse University Press, 2010 p. 235.</ref>—he acknowledged the importance of co-governance and peaceful coexistence in a 1934 letter to the [[League of Nations]],  stating that "the struggle to put an end to the [[Wandering Jew]], could not have as its result, the creation of the Wandering Arab."<ref>David Whitten Smith, Elizabeth Geraldine Burr, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5v-iBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 ''Understanding World Religions: A Road Map for Justice and Peace''], Revised Ed., Rowman & Littlefield, 2014  p.224.</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1877, he married [[Adelheid von Rothschild]] of [[Naples]], the daughter of [[Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild]], one of the Rothschild banking family of Naples, with whom he had three children: [[James de Rothschild (politician)|James Armand Edmond]], [[Maurice de Rothschild|Maurice Edmond Karl]] and Miriam Caroline Alexandrine. 

== Death ==
[[File:Edmond James de Rothschild grave.jpg|thumb|Baron Edmond de Rothschild's [[grave]] at [[Ramat HaNadiv]]]]

In 1934, Rothschild died at [[Château Rothschild]], Boulogne-Billancourt. His wife died a year later on 29 December 1935. They were interred in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris until April 1954, when their remains were transported to Israel aboard a naval frigate.

At the port of [[Haifa]], the ship was met with sirens and a 19-gun salute. A state funeral was held, with former Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] giving the eulogy, following which Rothschild and his wife were re-interred atop a hill near Haifa in what today is called Ramat HaNadiv (The Generous one's Heights) Memorial Gardens, near the towns of Zichron Ya'akov (in Memoriam of Jacob, which is Jacob in English) and Binyamina ("of Benjamin"), both of which he helped fund, and are named in his honor. The open space at [[Ramat HaNadiv]] and the Rothschild family charity [[Yad HaNadiv]] ("The generous one's hand" and also "The generous one's memory"), are also named in honor. The charity was started in 1954, the year the Rothschilds were buried in Israel, to carry on the legacy of the Baron’s earlier philanthropy in Palestine, and his colony association, the PICA.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.yadhanadiv.org.il/about-yad-hanadiv|title = About Yad Hanadiv &#124; Yad Hanadiv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ramat-hanadiv.org.il/en/about-us/|title=About Us|website=[[Ramat HaNadiv]]|accessdate=June 14, 2023}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Edmond James de Rothschild stamp 1954.jpg|upright|thumb|Israeli postal stamp, 1954]]

For his Jewish philanthropy Baron Edmond became known as "HaNadiv HaYadu'a", ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] for "The Known Benefactor" or "The Famous Benefactor") and in his memory his son bequeathed the funds to construct the building for the [[Knesset]].<ref name="auto"/> He is also sometimes called "The Father of the [[Yishuv]]" for his early support of Zionism.<ref>Naor, M. (1986). Edmond de Rothschild and Zionism. Studies in Zionism, 7(2), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/13531048608575899</ref>

Israel's 1982/5742 [[Israel Independence Day|Independence Day]] coin is dedicated to the memory of Edmond de Rothschild and marks the centenary of his first projects in Israel. From 1982 until 1986, the [[Bank of Israel]] used his portrait on the 500 [[Old Israeli shekel|Israeli sheqel]] note.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/catal/eng/bill_all_eng.htm?series_num=8&series_name=Sheqel%20Series&pg_name=p035&pg_kot=FIVE%20HUNDRED%20SHEQALIM |title=Error1-2010 |publisher=Bankisrael.gov.il |access-date=2014-04-22 |archive-date=2011-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315190042/http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/catal/eng/bill_all_eng.htm?series_num=8&series_name=Sheqel%20Series&pg_name=p035&pg_kot=FIVE%20HUNDRED%20SHEQALIM |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Rothschild Boulevard]] in [[Tel Aviv]] is named after him, as well as various localities throughout Israel which he assisted in founding. [[Rishon LeZion]], the city which he helped to found, named one of the central streets Rothschild Street, and in 1996 Rothschild Mall was built. Also named after him is the ''Parc Edmond de Rothschild'' (Edmond de Rothschild Park) in [[Boulogne-Billancourt]].

==See also==
*[[Isaac Leib Goldberg]] (1860–1935), Zionist leader and philanthropist from Russia
*[[Maurice de Hirsch]] (1831–1896), German Jewish financier and philanthropist,founder of the Jewish Colonization Association

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last=Antébi |first=Elizabeth |title=Edmond de Rothschild : l'homme qui racheta la terre sainte |location=Monaco |publisher=Rocher |year=2003 |isbn=978-2268044422 |language=fr}}
*{{cite book |last=Aharonson |first=Ran |title=Rothschild and Early Jewish Colonization in Palestine |location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2000 |isbn=978-9654930581 }}
*{{cite book |last=Patai |first=Raphael |title=Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel |volume=2 |chapter=Rothschild, Baron Edmond-James de |page=966 |location=New York |publisher=Herzl Press |year=1971 }}
*{{cite book | first= Simon | last= Schama | author-link= Simon Schama | year= 1978 | title= Two Rothschilds and the Land of Israel |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0394501376 }}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [https://family.rothschildarchive.org/people/50-edmond-james-de-rothschild-1845-1934 Rothschild Archive]
* [http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/ Waddesdon Manor]
{{Rothschilds}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Edmond James de}}
[[Category:Edmond James de Rothschild| ]]
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Boulogne-Billancourt]]
[[Category:French philanthropists]]
[[Category:19th-century French Jews]]
[[Category:Barons de Rothschild|Edmond James]]
[[Category:French Zionists]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie des beaux-arts]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]