Maurice Ephrussi (18 November 1849 – 29 October 1916) was a French

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 ...

and horsebreeder.

Early life

Maurice Ephrussi was born on November 18, 1849, in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He was a member of the

Ephrussi family The Ephrussi family () is a Ukrainian Jewish banking and oil dynasty. The family's bank and properties were seized by the Nazi authorities after the 1938 "Anschluss", the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. History The progenitor, Charles J ...

. His father, Charles Joachim Ephrussi (1792-1864), was a trader in

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

who founded a bank, Ephrussi & Co., and his mother was Henriette (1822-1888). His elder half-brother, Ignace von Ephrussi, founded a branch of the family bank in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Career

With his older brother,

Michel Ephrussi Michel Ephrussi (May 10, 1844 – January 5, 1914) was a Russian-born French banker who also bred and raced Thoroughbreds. Early life Michel Ephrussi was born on May 10, 1844, in Odessa, Ukraine. He was a member of the Ephrussi family. His ...

, Maurice co-founded a branch of Ephrussi & Co. 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Equestrian interests

Maurice Ephrussi and his brother Michel were both involved in the sport of Thoroughbred

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. Maurice owned Haras du Gazon, a

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

farm in

Bazoches-au-Houlme Bazoches-au-Houlme () is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France. Geography The commune of Bazoches-au-Houlme is part of the area known as Suisse Normande. The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and ha ...

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

where he bred the outstanding runner and champion sire,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

.Perth
/ref> Perth's sire was the Ephrussi stallion

War Dance A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare. Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settin ...

who also sired the brilliant filly

Roxelane Hurrem Sultan (, ota, خُرّم سلطان, translit=Ḫurrem Sulṭān, tr, Hürrem Sultan, label=Modern Turkish; 1500 – 15 April 1558), also known as Roxelana ( uk, Роксолана}; ), was the chief consort and legal wife of the Ottom ...

. In the 1860s, Maurice Ephrussi had acquired Château de Reux near Reux,

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

, located about northeast of Haras du Gazon. Horses raced by Maurice Ephrussi won a number of important races in France and England, including the *

Cambridgeshire Handicap The Cambridgeshire Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlo ...

- (1) - ''

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

(1907)'' * La Coupe - (1) - ''Bariolet (1882)'' *

Prix de la Forêt The Prix de la Forêt is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it i ...

- (2) - ''Seymour (1879) Alicante (1889)'' *

Prix du Cadran The Prix du Cadran is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 4,000 metres (about 2 miles), and it is scheduled to take ...

- (1) - ''Bariolet (1882)'' *

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a ...

- (1) - ''Mordant (1907)'' *

Prix Gladiateur The Prix Gladiateur is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), and it ...

- (1) - ''Bariolet (1882)'' * Prix du Nabob - (2) - ''Alicante (1890), Chapeau Chinois (1893)'' *

Prix Royal-Oak The Prix Royal-Oak is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), and ...

- (1) - ''Alicante'' (1890) *

Prix Jean Prat The Prix Jean Prat is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 1,400 metres (about 7 furlongs), and it is sche ...

- (1) - ''Alicante (1891)'' Haras du Gazon was later purchased by American horseman, Herman B. Duryea.

Personal life

Ephrussi married Béatrice de Rothschild, the daughter of Alphonse de Rothschild, a member 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 ...

. The wedding took place on June 5, 1883, in Paris. They maintained a home in Paris, a villa in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

called "Rose de France", and in the early 1900s built

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, also called Villa Île-de-France, is a French seaside villa located at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. Designed by the French architect Aaron Messiah, it was built between 1907 and 1912 by Baroness ...

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (; oc, Sant Joan de Cap Ferrat; Italian: ''San Giovanni Capo Ferrato'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 1,573 ...

. The marriage quickly turned to disaster for Béatrice, as she caught syphilis from Maurice which prevented her from having children. Maurice was a big gambler and in 1904 his debts amounted to more than 12 million gold francs, the equivalent of 30 million euros today. Worried about the future, the Rothschild family decided to take Maurice to court to demand a separation. They won the case and, in June 1904, after 21 years of marriage, Béatrice de Rothschild and Maurice Ephrussi were separated. Maurice and Béatrice Ephrussi were avid

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

collectors and his cousin,

Charles Ephrussi Charles Ephrussi (24 December 1849 – 30 September 1905) was a French art critic, art historian, and art collector. He also was a part-owner (from 1885) and then editor (from 1894) as well as a contributor to the ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'', th ...

, proprietor of the ''

Gazette des Beaux-Arts The ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' was a French art review, founded in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editorial secretary under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1936 ...

'' in Paris, was a patron of the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. Maurice Ephrussi died in 1916. Béatrice lived the rest of her life in

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where she died in 1934.La Villa Ephrussi de Rotshchild
/ref>

References

;Notes ;Sources * Pinçon, Michel. ''Grand fortunes: dynasties of wealth in France'' (1998) Algora Publishing
Information on Haras du Gazon in the 14 May 1922 (edition 1) of the ''Daily Racing Form''

La Lettre de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts : La Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild" (numero 59 - janvier 2010) Friends of Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ephrussi, Maurice 1849 births 1916 deaths French bankers French racehorse owners and breeders French art collectors Odesa Jews Jewish bankers Rothschild family

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France