Biographical/Historical Information
Baron James Rothschild was born Jakob Mayer Rothschild on May 15, 1792, in Frankfurt. In accordance with his father’s policy of expanding the family’s banking empire across Europe, he moved to France in 1811, and set up the first Rothschild bank in 1817. After the Napoleonic wars France began to industrialize, thus requiring large amounts of capital. The Rothschild banking family was able to provide this capital and as a result was able to make tremendous amounts of profit in the 19th Century. Furthermore the revolution of 1830 installed the business friendlily King Louis-Philippe come to power, and with it a period of tremendous growth for Baron James Rothschild’s bank. The arrival of Napoleon III in 1848 seemed to complicate matters, but eventually allowed the bank to prosper. Along with being a financier, Baron James Rothschild was also a leader of the Paris Jewish community. He died in his adopted city of Paris in 1868, shortly before the Franco-Prussian War.
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Citation
Weger, August: Portrait of Baron James Rothschild (1792-1868), Leo Baeck Institute, 81.15.