Adolphe Benedict Hayum Goldschmidt (1838,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

– 6 April 1918,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) was co-inheritor of the

Goldschmidt family The Goldschmidt family is a family of German Jewish descent, originally from Frankfurt am Main, known for their success in banking. With origins tracing back to the 15th century, most members were forced to leave Frankfurt after the 1614 Fettmil ...

bank in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Life

His father was Benedikt Hayum Goldschmidt, founder of the bank and consul to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. One of the richest families in Europe, in 1900, after their father's death, he and his brother, Maximilian decided to close the bank and leave

. While Maximilian, the later

Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild (20 June 1843 – 18 February 1940) was a German banker and art collector. The son of Benedict Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt, he was the co-inheritor of the Goldschmidt family bank along with his brother Adolphe ...

, moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Adolphe went first to

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 ...

and then to

, where he bought a large house in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

. He also bought a 2,500 acre (10 km²) country estate in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Adolphe and his wife became collectors of art. They acquired many expensive pieces including the furniture of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

and

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

. Adolphe did not want to go back into banking, but he became a sleeping partner in London Merchant Bank °Helbert Wagg & Co.° (estab. 1848, 1962 acquired by °

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

°) and invested in bonds. He also held interests in the Central Mining Investment Corp., which controlled mines in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and had interests in the

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

diamond and oil business. Adolphe was the father of

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician

Frank Goldsmith Francis Benedict Hyam Goldsmith (22 November 1878 – 14 February 1967) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 to 1918. He served in World War I. In 1918, he moved to France, where he en ...

, who anglicized his name to "Goldsmith", and grandfather of both tycoon

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His contr ...

and environmentalist

Edward Goldsmith Edward René David Goldsmith (8 November 1928 – 21 August 2009), widely known as Teddy Goldsmith, was an Anglo-French environmentalist, writer and philosopher. He was a member the prominent Goldsmith family. The eldest son of Major Fr ...

. Adolphe's descendants are

Zac Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to: People: * Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player * Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League playe ...

and

Jemima Goldsmith Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith (born 30 January 1974; known as Jemima Khan for work) is an English screenwriter, television, film and documentary producer and the founder of Instinct Productions, a television production company. She was formerly a j ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschmidt, Adolphe 19th-century German Jews 1838 births 1918 deaths

Adolphe ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...

People from Frankfurt German bankers German art collectors 19th-century art collectors 20th-century art collectors