Étienne Gustave Frédéric, 3rd Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar (16 October 1860 – 8 May 1934), was a Dutch-Belgian

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

and

car enthusiast A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles. Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around the type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang), brand (e.g ...

. He was a founding member of the

Automobile Club de France The Automobile Club of France (french: Automobile Club de France, links=no) (ACF) is a men's club founded on November 12, 1895 by Albert de Dion, Paul Meyan, and its first president, the Dutch-born Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt. The Aut ...

, serving as the organisation's first president, and was the first president of the

Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(AIACR, later known as the FIA).

Personal life

Van Zuylen was born in Saint-Étienne, near

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, on 16 October 1860, a member of the old Dutch

Van Zuylen van Nievelt Van Zuylen van Nievelt is an old noble Dutch family originating from Utrecht. History Utrecht The family was already noble from earliest times ("Uradel"). The first known ancestor is the knight Steven van Zulen, who early in the 13th century ...

noble family; he was the 3rd Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar. His father, Gustave, was a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and his grandfather, Jean-Jacques was a former mayor of Bruges. On 16 August 1887, Van Zuylen married

Hélène de Rothschild Helene or Hélène may refer to: People *Helene (given name), a Greek feminine given name *Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda *Helene, a figure in Greek mythology who was a friend of Aphrodite and helped her seduce Adonis *Helene (Ama ...

, daughter of

Salomon James de Rothschild Salomon James de Rothschild (1835–1864) was a French banker and socialite. Biography Early life Salomon James de Rothschild was born on 30 March 1835. His father was James Mayer de Rothschild, head of the Paris branch of the prominent Rothsch ...

of the

Rothschild banking family of France The Rothschild banking family of France (french: Famille banquière Rothschild) is a French banking dynasty founded in 1812 in Paris (at the time in the First French Empire) by James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868). James was sent there from ...

, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. They had two sons, Egmont and Hélin. Hélin was killed in a car accident in 1912, and Egmont worked as a diplomat; his eldest child was Parisian socialite

Marie-Hélène de Rothschild Marie-Hélène Naila Stephanie Josina de Rothschild (; November 17, 1927 – March 1, 1996) was a French socialite who became a doyenne of Parisian high-society and was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France. Early life ...

. In 1890, Van Zuylen inherited the ruined De Haar Castle and set about restoring it. Financed by Rothschild money and directed by Dutch architect

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. M ...

, work started in 1892 and took 20 years. Van Zuylen received recognition with appointments as an officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, and as a knight of the Order of Leopold. Van Zuylen died in

on 8 May 1934.

Cars and motorsport

With

Jules-Albert de Dion Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne (9 March 185619 August 1946) was a French pioneer of the automobile industry. He invented a steam-powered car and used it to win the world's first auto race, but his vehicle was adjudg ...

and

Paul Meyan Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, Van Zuylen was a founding member of the

, and served as the organisation's first president between 1895 and 1922. He was also the first president of the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR, English: 'International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs'), later known as the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA), holding the position from 1904 until his retirement in 1931.

Equestrian

Van Zuylen competed in the mail coach event at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar, Etienne Gustave Frederic 1860 births 1934 deaths Auto racing executives Presidents of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Belgian male equestrians Olympic equestrians for Belgium Equestrians at the 1900 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Nice Barons of Belgium Barons of the Netherlands Officers of the Legion of Honour Order of Leopold (Belgium)