Evelyn de Rothschild

Early life

Son of Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887–1961) and Yvonne Lydia Louise Cahen d'Anvers (1899–1977), he was named after his uncle Evelyn Achille de Rothschild who was killed in action in World War I. Evelyn de Rothschild spent several of his boyhood years in the United States during World War II. He was a pupil at Harrow School and then studied history at Trinity College, University of Cambridge but he dropped out before obtaining a degree.

Born into great wealth, Evelyn de Rothschild became one of England's most eligible bachelors, spending his youth travelling, socialising, driving exotic sports cars, enjoying thoroughbred horse racing and playing polo. It was not until age 26 that he decided to join N M Rothschild & Sons banking house to be trained in the family's business. In 1955, a couple years prior to Sir Evelyn's entry into the family's business, his father had to retire from the position of chairman due to illness and his cousin Victor Rothschild took over as chairman.

Career

Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a director of Paris-based de Rothschild Frères in 1968 while Guy de Rothschild from the French branch of the family became a partner at N M Rothschild & Sons. In 1976 he took over as bank chairman from Victor Rothschild and in 1982 became chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the co-ordinating company for the merchant banking group. He became co-chairman of Rothschild Bank A.G., Zurich in 1994, serving until 2003 when he oversaw the merger of the family's French and UK houses. David René de Rothschild of the French branch took over as executive chairman of Rothschild International after the different branches had been merged and Sir Evelyn continued as non-executive chairman of N M Rothschild & Sons. In 2003, he founded with his wife, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a holding company, E.L. Rothschild, to manage their investments in The Economist and various enterprises in India.

Throughout his career, Evelyn de Rothschild has been actively involved in a number of other organisations in both the private and public sectors and has held the following business positions:

Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a Director of the newspaper group owned by Lord Beaverbrook. Years later, he served for a time as a Director of Lord Black's Daily Telegraph newspaper. An owner of thoroughbred racehorses, he is a former chairman of United Racecourses.

Philanthropic activities

In 1967 Sir Evelyn created the Eranda Foundation to support social welfare, promote the arts and to encourage research into medicine and education.

Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1989, he serves as Her Majesty's financial adviser. He has been a Governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as an active patron of the arts and supporter of a number of charities. He served as Chairman of the Delegacy of St Mary's Hospital Medical School from 1977 to 1988. He has been a Member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a trustee of the Shakespeare Globe Trust, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. Sir Evelyn was the founding chairman in 1990 of The European Association for Banking and Financial History in Frankfurt, Germany, a position he held until retiring in 2004. He is a board member of the Snowdon Trust, founded by the Earl of Snowdon, which provides grants and scholarships for students with disabilities.

Personal life

In 1966, Evelyn de Rothschild married Jeannette Bishop, a niece of Sir Stanley Hooker, the jet-engine engineer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971. Jeanette Bishop died in 1981 at the age of 41.

He married a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (b. 1949), the daughter of Florida property developer Lewis Schott and his wife Marcia W. Schott (née Whitney). The marriage, which ended in 2000 by way of divorce, produced three children:

1. Jessica de Rothschild (b. 1974) - married British journalist, screenwriter, and film director Sacha Gervasi in 2010.
2. Anthony James de Rothschild (b. 1977) - married Danish model and UK TV presenter Tania Strecker in 2006.
3. David Mayer de Rothschild (b. 1978).

On 30 November 2000, Sir Evelyn married the American lawyer and entrepreneur Lynn Forester, who was the head of the Luxembourg-based wireless broadband venture FirstMark Communications Europe and the former wife of Andrew Stein, a New York City political figure who served as the last president of the New York City Council. By this marriage, he has two stepchildren, Benjamin Forester Stein (b. 1985) and John Forester Stein (b. 1988). On the announcement of the marriage, the de Rothschild couple were invited to spend their honeymoon at the White House, where they agreed to stay one night.

Sir Evelyn's family homes include Ascott House, a country estate owned by the National Trust in Buckinghamshire about 46 miles north of London.

He was knighted as a Knight Bachelor in the 1989 New Year Honours List.