Mayer Amschel Rothschild (23 February 1744 – 19
September 1812) was the founder of the
Rothschild family international banking
dynasty that became one of the most successful business
families in history. In 2005, he was ranked 7th on the
Forbes magazine list of "The Twenty
Most Influential Businessmen Of All Time". The business magazine
referred to him as a "founding father of international
finance".
Biography
Meyer
Amschel Rothschild was born in 1744 in the ghetto (called "Judengasse" or Jew Alley) in Frankfurt am
Main
, Germany
, one of
eight children of Amschel Moses
Rothschild (d. 1755) and his wife Schönche Rothschild
née Lechnich (d. 1756).
The ancestry of the Rothschilds can be traced back to 1577 to Izaak
Elchanan Rothschild, whose name derived from the house he occupied
in the Judengasse —
zum roten Schild ("at the sign of the
red shield"). His grandchildren and descendents took this name as
the family name and kept it when they relocated in 1664 to another
house in the Judengasse —
Hinterpfann (literally "house in
the back of the saucepan") — which became the family's home and
business location through to the early 19th century.
The father of Mayer Amschel had a business in the trade of small
goods and currency exchange. The family home above the shop had a
front wall only 11 feet wide, where more than 30 people lived at
that time.
Business career
He was apprenticed to the banking firm of Jakob Wolf Oppenheim in
Hamburg, returning to business in Frankfurt in 1763. He became a
dealer in rare coins and won the patronage of Crown Prince Wilhelm
of Hesse, gaining the title of "Court Factor". Rothschild's coin
business grew to include a number of princely patrons, and then
expanded through the provision of banking services to Crown Prince
Wilhelm, who became
Wilhelm
IX, Landgrave of
Hesse-Kassel in
1785. Business expanded rapidly following the French Revolution
when Rothschild handled payments from Britain for the hire of
Hessian mercenaries.
By the early years of the 19th century, Mayer Amschel Rothschild
had consolidated his position as principal international banker to
Wilhelm IX and began to issue his own international loans,
borrowing capital from the Landgrave.
In 1806, Napoleon invaded Hesse in response to Wilhelm's support
for Prussia. The Landgrave went into exile in Schleswig-Holstein,
but Rothschild was able to continue as his banker, investing funds
in London. He also profited from importing goods in circumvention
of Napoleon's continental blockade.
Rothschild dynasty
In 1798, third son
Nathan Mayer
Rothschild was sent to England to further the family interests
in textile importing with £20,000 capital — the first foreign
branch. Nathan became a naturalized citizen in 1804 and established
a bank in the City of London. In 1810, Mayer entered into a formal
partnership agreement with his three eldest sons. The youngest son
Jacob was sent to Paris in 1811, enhancing the family's ability to
operate across Europe. This enabled them to profit from the
opportunity of financing Wellington's armies in Portugal, requiring
the sourcing of large quantities of gold on behalf of the British
government.
Mayer Amschel Rothschild died on 19 September 1812 at
Frankfurt-am-Main, and was buried in the
Battonnstrasse cemetery in Frankfurt. In 1817
he was posthumously ennobled by the emperor
Francis I of Austria. His descendants
furthered the family fortune across Europe — the "five arrows" of
banking. Eldest son Amschel Mayer took over the Frankfurt bank and
Salomon moved to Vienna. Nathan turned the London branch into one
of Europe's most powerful banking institutions (
N. M. Rothschild & Sons), Calmann
(gentrified to "Carl") set up a branch in Naples and Jacob
("James") became a giant of finance in Paris.
Family
Mayer Amschel Rothschild married Guttle Schnapper (1753-1849), the
daughter of Wolf Salomon Schnapper, on 29 August 1770. They had the
following children:
- Schönche
Jeannette Rothschild (20 August 1771 – 1859) - married Benedikt Moses Worms (1772–1824)
- Amschel "Anselm"
Mayer (12 June 1773 – 6 December 1855)
- Salomon Mayer (9
September 1774 – 28 July 1855) - founder of the Rothschild banking family
of Austria
- Nathan Mayer (16
September 1777 – 18 July 1836) - founder of the Rothschild banking family
of England
- Isabella Rothschild (2 July
1781 – 1861)
- Babette Rothschild (29 August
1784 – 16 March 1869)
- Calmann "Carl" Mayer
(24 April 1788 – 10 March 1855) - founder of the Rothschild banking family of
Naples
- Julie Rothschild (1 May 1790 –
19 June 1815)
- Henriette (1791–1866)
married Abraham Montefiore
(1788–1824)
- Jacob "James" Mayer
(1792–1868) - founder of the Rothschild banking family of
France
References
- The Germanic form "Mayer" was used from 1802 instead of the
original "Meyer" - Elon, p.108.
- Elon, p.47; p.55.
- Elon, p.43.
- Elon, pp.41,43
- Elon, p.59.
- Elon, p.65.
- Elon, p.153.
- Elon, p.153.
- Elon, p.66.
Sources
External links
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