Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild (assumed the name Batsheva; ; after she immigrated to Israel in 1951; 23 September 1914 – 20 April 1999) was a philanthropist, dance patron, and member of the Rothschild banking family.
World War II
During World War II, she enlisted in the Free French forces and was part of the landing force for the Battle of Normandy. 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 dance school. 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. 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,
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. This included a 17th-century oil painting by Rembrandt and other Old Master paintings as well as Islamic 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 in London to the Dutch art dealer Robert Noortman for a record price of US$28.7 million. A 13th-century Mamluk jug in pristine condition sold for £3,307,750 (US$4.8 million), a world record for Islamic glass, and two mosque lamps for £1,763,750 and £641,750.
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients