Raphaël-Louis Bischoffsheim (22 July 1823 – 20 May 1906) was a French banker and a member of the prominent

Bischoffsheim family The Bischoffsheim family is a family of German-Belgian Jewish descent known for their success in banking. It can be traced back to Raphaël Nathan Bischoffsheim, an army contractor native of Tauberbischofsheim, in the Electorate of Mainz. The fami ...

Family background

Raphaël-Louis’ father,

Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim (; 22 June 1800 – 14 November 1873) was a German-born international banker and a member of the prominent Bischoffsheim family. Early life Louis-Raphaël was born on 22 June 1800 and was the eldest son of Nathan-Ra ...

, was born in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

in 1800 and as an early orphan, he had to leave high school to work at the bank of Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt. In 1820, he left

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 it ...

to create his own bank in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. In 1822, he married the sister of Benedict Hayum Goldschmidt, Amelia. In 1850, the family moved permanently to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, where he opened one of the three branches of his bank.

Life and career

Raphaël-Louis had already been sent to Paris by his father in 1842 to study at the

École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. After graduation, he was appointed as inspector of the railway line in northern Italy belonging to his father. He worked there until 1873, when he took over from his father the management of the family's banking group. On 24 April 1880, he obtained

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

. In 1873, Bischoffsheim commissioned architect Charles Garnier to build a villa in

Bordighera Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...

, which was called Villa Bischoffsheim and finished in 1875. Bischoffsheim, who was a very generous person, had started investing and making plans to improve the city. What was closest to his heart was the construction of an observatory on the

Mount Bego Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. Unfortunately, the municipalities proved unreceptive to the proposal of the banker, and Bischoffsheim, who had already had problems with money loaned to the city for improving the Via Romana, decided to move his center of interests back to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. His passion for astronomy had already driven him to invest in the observatories of Paris, of Montsouris and of the Pic du Midi. When Bordighera did not accept his proposal for an observatory, Bischoffsheim built one in Nice on Mont-Gros, providing it with all the latest equipment and making it a center of excellence. The observatory was opened in October 1887. His contribution to science and society was such that Bischoffsheim received from the French Government 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 in 1889, at the Universal Exposition of Paris, two gold medals: one for the

Nice Observatory The Nice Observatory (french: Observatoire de Nice) is an astronomical observatory located in Nice, France on the summit of Mount Gros. The observatory was founded in 1879, by the banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim. The architect was Charles Garni ...

and another for the professional school of the Boulevard Bourdon in Paris. In 1881, he was chosen to represent the district of Nice in the Chamber of Deputies, but not wanting to join any party, he was not re-elected in 1885. Instead, he was re-elected in 1889 for Nice and, in 1893, for

Puget-Théniers Puget-Théniers (; oc, Lo Puget Tenier; it, Poggetto Tenieri) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Geography It is situated on in the valley of the Var. History It was part of the historic County of Nice ...

''(see list of deputies on French wikipedia)''. In 1890, he was elected as a free member of the French Academy of Sciences.http://clio.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/patrons/AC000007662/AC000007662Doc711.pdf

Notes

External links

*
Nice Observatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoffsheim, Raphael French philanthropists 19th-century French Jews French people of German-Jewish descent Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1823 births 1906 deaths 19th-century philanthropists French people of Belgian descent Dutch people of German-Jewish descent Dutch emigrants to France Businesspeople from Amsterdam Dutch bankers French bankers Dutch people of Belgian descent