Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild (assumed the name Batsheva; ; after she
immigrated
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
to Israel in 1951; 23 September 1914 – 20 April 1999) was a philanthropist, dance patron, and member of the
Rothschild banking family.
Early life and education
Bethsabée de Rothschild was a great-granddaughter of
James Mayer Rothschild
Baron James Mayer de Rothschild (born Jakob Mayer Rothschild; 15 May 1792 – 15 November 1868) was a French banker and the founder of the French branch of the prominent Rothschild family. He was born in the Holy Roman Empire.
Early life
He ...
(1792–1868) and the fourth and youngest child of Baron
Édouard Alphonse de Rothschild (1868–1949) and his wife, the former Germaine Alice Halphen (1884–1975).
Her father ran the French bank with his cousin Baron
Robert Philippe de Rothschild (1880–1946). Bethsabée grew up at
Château de Ferrières
Château de Ferrières () is a French château built between 1855 and 1859 for Baron James de Rothschild in the Goût Rothschild style located in central France, some 26 km east of Paris. Rothschild ownership of the Château de Ferrières w ...
outside of Paris, and at the
Talleyrand palace, in Paris itself. Her elder brother, Édouard Alphonse Émile Lionel (1906–1911), died at the age of four of
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...
;
she also had a brother,
Guy and a sister,
Jacqueline. She was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris and received her bachelor's degree in biology. Following the invasion of France in 1940, she fled with her family to New York City, where she studied biochemistry and biology at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
,
but never received an advanced degree.
Though born to a wealthy and influential family, Bethsabée was said to have detested the rich lifestyle and distanced herself from her family, with the exception of her sister Jacqueline, with whom Bethsabée appeared to have been close
and her brother Guy. She was said to have been a modest and generous woman.
World War II
During World War II, she enlisted in the
Free French forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
and was part of the landing force for the
Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...
. She moved with the army to liberate Paris, where she served as a liaison between the French and United States military forces. At war's end, she returned to New York and enrolled at the
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over s ...
dance school.
Dance companies
In 1951, not long after her divorce from Bloomingdale, Rothschild traveled to Israel for the first time, settling there permanently in 1962. In Israel Rothschild made significant contributions to dance through the establishment of the
Batsheva Dance Company
The Batsheva Dance Company (Hebrew: להקת בת שבע) is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964.
Its inception was inspired by Israel's growing inter ...
that became one of the most influential cultural role models in Israel. In the mid-1960s, she met the
South African-born classical dancer,
Jeannette Ordman, who had come to Israel in 1965 from
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England; the two women were professional partners until Rothschild's death. With Rothschild's financial backing, they formed a dance school and a few years later the
Bat-Dor Dance Company, with Ordman as the company's artistic director.
In addition to her cultural activities, Bethsabée de Rothschild created two foundations to advance science and technology in Israel in connection with which she was awarded the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
in 1989, for special contribution to society and to the State of Israel.
Personal life
In 1948, Bethsabée de Rothschild married
Donald Bloomingdale
Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterp ...
(1913–1954),
the son of Irving Bloomingdale and the grandson of
Lyman G. Bloomingdale, co-founder of the
Bloomingdale department store.
At the time of their wedding, Bloomingdale was the
attache of the
Paris Embassy to the United States under
Jefferson Caffery
Jefferson Caffery (December 1, 1886 – April 13, 1974) was an American diplomat. He served as U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador (1926–1928), Colombia (1928–1933), Cuba (1934–1937), Brazil (1937–1944), France (1944–1949), and Egypt (1949� ...
. The marriage was short-lived. It is purported that she had a child that died, though seemingly not from her marriage with Bloomingdale. Her brother Guy reports this event in his memoirs,
but fails to list any vital information about the child. This birth and untimely death appears to be the only such listing in the Rothschild family tree for which no identifying information is given.
Rothschild died at her home in Tel Aviv in 1999
after a lengthy illness and was buried in Israel.
Art collection
Through a trust, she had inherited part of a major art collection assembled by her grandfather Baron
Alphonse James de Rothschild
Mayer Alphonse James Rothschild (1 February 1827 – 26 May 1905), was a French financier, vineyard owner, art collector, philanthropist, racehorse owner/breeder and a member of the
Rothschild banking family of France.
Biography
Known as A ...
. This included a 17th-century oil painting by
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
and other
paintings as well as
Islamic
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and
Venetian glass, decorative objects and porcelain, and Renaissance-style jewelry. Following her death, the collections were auctioned off. Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Lady" was sold by
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
in London to the Dutch art dealer Robert Noortman for a record price of US$28.7 million. A 13th-century
Mamluk
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
jug in pristine condition sold for £3,307,750 (US$4.8 million), a world record for
Islamic glass
Islamic glass is glass made in the Islamic world, especially in periods up to the 19th century. It built on pre-Islamic cultures in the Middle East, especially ancient Egyptian, Persian and Roman glass, and developed distinct styles, character ...
, and two
mosque lamp
Fine mosque lamps are oil lamps that typically have a large round body and a narrower neck that flares towards the top. They were often made with internal containers to be filled with oil and a wick to produce light. They were usually made of ...
s for £1,763,750 and £641,750.
Christie's
Sale 6407, 2000, King St London.
See also
*List of Israel Prize recipients
This is an incomplete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 - 2025.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize website ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Bethsabee de
French philanthropists
Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients
Israel Prize women recipients
Bethsabee de Rothschild
Austrian baronesses
1914 births
1999 deaths
Burials at Yarkon Cemetery
University of Paris alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
French emigrants to Israel
French women philanthropists