Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
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Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, (31 October 1910 – 20 March 1990), was a British scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & Sons, and an advisor to the Edward Heath and
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
governments of the UK. He was a member of the prominent
Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
.


Biography


Early life

Rothschild was born in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London, the only son of Charles Rothschild and Rózsika Rothschild (''née'' Baroness Edle von Wertheimstein). Both parents were
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, his father a member of the Rothschild banking family and his mother the daughter of the first titled Jew in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. He grew up in Waddesdon Manor and Tring Park Mansion, among other family homes. He had three sisters, including Pannonica de Koenigswarter (who would become known as the "Jazz Baroness") and Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild. His father died by suicide when Rothschild was 13 years old. He was educated at Stanmore Park preparatory school (which he later dubbed a "hell hole") and
Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
, where the combination of archaic privileges and pointless rituals served only to annoy and bore him.


Cambridge and London

At
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, Rothschild read
physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
, French, and English, and was considered impressive enough an undergraduate to be spared the rigours of sitting the Natural Sciences
Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...
, thus allowing him to embark immediately on a career in scientific research. Working in the Zoology Department, he was awarded a fellowship by Trinity in 1935 and a PhD two years later. He played
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
for the University and Northamptonshire, where his experience of batting against the
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
pair of Harold Larwood and Bill Voce he was later to describe as the most alarming of his life. At Cambridge he was known for his playboy lifestyle, driving a
Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...
and collecting art and rare books. Rothschild joined the Cambridge Apostles, a
secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
, which at that time was predominantly
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
, though he stated himself that he "was mildly left-wing but never a Marxist". He became friends with Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and Kim Philby, members of the Cambridge Spy Ring. His flat in London was shared with Burgess and Blunt; this later aroused suspicion that he was the so-called Fifth Man in the Spy Ring. In 1933, Rothschild gave Blunt £100 to purchase "Eliezer and Rebecca" by Nicolas Poussin. The painting was sold by Blunt's executors in 1985 for £100,000 and is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Rothschild inherited his title at the age of 26 following the death of his uncle
Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoology, zoologist, and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he wa ...
on 27 August 1937. He sat as a peer in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, but spoke only twice there during his life (both speeches were in 1946, one about the pasteurization of milk, and another about the situation in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
). In November 1945 he joined the Labour Party.


World War II

Rothschild was recruited to work for MI5 during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in roles including bomb disposal, disinformation and espionage, winning the
George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...
for "dangerous work in hazardous circumstances". He was the head of B1C, the "explosives and sabotage section", and worked on identifying where Britain's war effort was vulnerable to sabotage and counter German sabotage attempts. This included personally dismantling examples of German booby traps and disguised explosives. With his assistant Theresa Clay, he ran the "Fifth Column" operation, which saw MI5 officer Eric Roberts masquerade as the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
's man in London in order to identify hundreds of Nazi sympathizers.


Cold War, Shell and Think Tank

In '' Who Paid the Piper?'' (1999), an account of CIA propaganda during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, author Frances Stonor Saunders alleges that Rothschild channelled funds to '' Encounter'', an intellectual magazine founded in 1953 to support the "non-Stalinist left" to advance US foreign policy goals. After the war, he joined the
zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
department at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
from 1950 to 1970. He served as chairman of the Agricultural Research Council from 1948 to 1958 and as worldwide head of research at Royal Dutch/Shell from 1963 to 1970. Flora Solomon claims in her autobiography that in August 1962, during a reception at the Weizmann Institute, she told Rothschild that she thought that Tomás Harris and Kim Philby were Soviet spies. When Anthony Blunt was unmasked as a member of the Cambridge Spy ring in 1964, Rothschild was questioned by Special Branch (though Blunt was not publicly identified as a Soviet agent until 1979 in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
by Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
). Rothschild was cleared and continued working on projects for the British government. Rothschild was head of the Central Policy Review Staff from 1971 to 1974 (known popularly as " The Think Tank") a staff which researched policy specifically for the Government until Margaret Thatcher abolished it. In 1971 Rothschild was awarded an honorary degree from
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
for ''the advancement of science, education and the economy of Israel''. It was followed in 1975 by an honorary degree from Jerusalem's Hebrew University. The annual " Victor Rothschild Memorial Symposia" is named after Rothschild.


Thatcher years and ''Spycatcher''

In the 1980s, Rothschild joined the family bank as chairman in an effort to quell the feuding between factions led by Evelyn Rothschild and Victor's son, Jacob Rothschild. In this, he was unsuccessful as Jacob resigned from the bank to found J. Rothschild Assurance Group (a separate entity, now St. James's Place plc). In 1982 he published ''An Enquiry into the Social Science Research Council'' at the behest of Sir Keith Joseph, a Conservative minister and mentor of Margaret Thatcher. He continued to work in security as an adviser to Margaret Thatcher. He appears several times in the book '' Spycatcher'', which he hoped would clear the air over suspicions about his wartime role and the possibility he was involved in the Cambridge spy ring. In early 1987 Tam Dalyell MP used parliamentary privilege to suggest Rothschild should be prosecuted for a chain of events he had "set in train, with Peter Wright and Harry Chapman Pincher" which had led to a "breach of confidence in relation to information on matters of state security given to authors". He was still able to enter the premises of MI5 as a former employee and was aware of suspicions there was a "mole" in MI5, but felt himself above suspicion. While Edward Heath was Prime Minister, Rothschild was a frequent visitor to
Chequers Chequers ( ) is the English country house, country house of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. A 16th-century manor house in origin, it is near the village of Ellesborough in England, halfway betwee ...
, the Prime Minister's country residence. Throughout Rothschild's life, he was a valued adviser on intelligence and science to both Conservative and Labour Governments. In his 1994 book ''The Fifth Man'', Australian author Roland Perry asserted that in 1993, after the dissolution of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, six retired KGB colonels, including Yuri Modin, the spy ring's handler, alleged Rothschild was the so-called "Fifth Man": "Rothschild was the key to most of the Cambridge ring's penetration of British intelligence. "He had the contacts", Modin noted. "He was able to introduce Burgess, Blunt and others to important figures in Intelligence such as Stewart Menzies, Dick White and Robert Vansittart in the Foreign Office ... who controlled MI6." However this suggestion is rebutted by other researchers; commentator Sheila Kerr pointed out that as soon as the book came out, Modin denied Perry's version of their discussions (having already stated that the fifth man was Cairncross), and concluded that "Perry's case against Rothschild is unconvincing because of dubious sources and slack methods". Noel Annan, who was criticised by the author Perry for a negative view of the latter's book and claims, writes: "Amid clouds of misstatements he erryrelies almost wholly on insinuation and bluster. ... when Andrew Boyle published his book and exposed Blunt, why did Margaret Thatcher acknowledge in the House of Commons the truth about Blunt, but later, in the case of Rothschild, clear him? Mr. Perry is saying she lied to the House. He tries to make much of her curt statement, "I am advised that we have no evidence that he was ever a Soviet spy." It is the only official reply she could have made. In MI5 jargon there was "No Trace" against his name". Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, in ''The Mitrokhin Archives'', make no mention of Rothschild as a Soviet agent and instead identify John Cairncross as the Fifth Man. Former KGB controller Yuri Modin denied ever having named Rothschild as "any kind of Soviet agent". "Because he was in MI5 they learned things from him. This doesn't make him the fifth man, and he wasn't," Modin wrote. His own book's title clarifies the name of all five of the Cambridge spy group: ''My Five Cambridge Friends: Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt, and Cairncross by Their KGB Controller''. Since Rothschild had died prior to the publication of the Perry book, the family was unable to start a libel action. Rothschild published two volumes of memoirs, ''Meditations of a Broomstick'' (1977) and ''Random Variables'' (1984). Despite being an opposition Labour party peer, in 1987, during the Thatcher Government, Rothschild played a role in the sacking of Director-General of the BBC Alasdair Milne, who had backed the programmes ''Secret Society'', ''Real Lives'', and ''Panorama'': " Maggie's Militant Tendency" which had angered the Thatcher government. Marmaduke Hussey, who was Chairman of the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Board of Governors at the time, implied Rothschild initiated the Milne sacking in his autobiography ''Chance Governs All''. Rothschild took the step of publishing a letter in British newspapers on 3 December 1986 to state "I am not, and never have been, a Soviet agent". He was an advisor to William Waldegrave during the design of the Community Charge, which led to the Poll Tax Riots.


Family

In 1933, he married Barbara Judith Hutchinson. They had three children. * Sarah Rothschild (born 1934) * Jacob Rothschild (1936–2024), later 4th Baron Rothschild * Miranda Rothschild (born 1940) In 1946, he married Teresa Georgina Mayor, who had worked as his assistant at MI5. They had four children: * Emma Rothschild (born 1948), married the
Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...
economist Amartya Kumar Sen (b. 1933) in 1991. * Benjamin Mayer Rothschild (born and died 1952). * Victoria Katherine Rothschild (born 1953), an academic lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London, and the second wife and widow of English writer Simon Gray (1936–2008). * Amschel Rothschild (1955–1996), married to Anita Patience Guinness of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Guinness family. He died by suicide in 1996. They had three children; Kate Emma Rothschild Goldsmith (b. 1982), Alice Miranda Rothschild (b. 1983) and James Amschel Victor Rothschild (b. 1985) Born into a nominally Jewish family, in adult life Rothschild declared himself to be an atheist. However, after his death, from a heart attack in London on 20 March 1990, his body was interred in the historic Jewish Brady Street Cemetery, which remarkably saved that cemetery from proposed redevelopment for 100 years.Walker, Philip
Views of Brady Street cemetery, London E1
Retrieved 10 August 2020.
His sister Miriam Louisa Rothschild was a distinguished entomologist, and his sister Nica de Koenigswarter was a
bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
enthusiast and patron of Thelonious Monk and
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
.


Honours and awards


Titles

* 3rd Baron Rothschild, of Tring, co. Hertford .K., 1885 27 August 1937. * 4th Baronet Rothschild .K., 1847 27 August 1937. * Knight Grand Cross,
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(G.B.E.), 1975. * Knight, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (K.St.J.). * Fellow, Royal Society (F.R.S.), 1953. * Major, Intelligence Corps.


Decorations

*
George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...
(G.M.) (United Kingdom), 1944. * Legion of Merit (United States), 1946. * Bronze Star Medal (United States), 1948.


Footnotes


Notes


References

* * * See also the list of references at Rothschild banking family of England


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Victor 3rd Baron Rothschild 1910 births 1990 deaths 3 Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers MI5 personnel Cambridge University cricketers English cricketers English Jews English atheists Jewish American atheists American atheists Jewish British scientists Jewish British politicians Northamptonshire cricketers People educated at Harrow School Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the George Medal Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century British zoologists Burials at Brady Street Cemetery