ICONIC CULTURE
Women of Rothschild Author and historian Natalie Livingstone discusses her latest book, The Women of Rothschild, unveiling the untold stories of the finance dynasty How did the project begin? I began researching the project six years ago. Reclaiming the stories of unresearched women as well as the study of Jewish history have always been passions. I felt this project was a fusion of both these lifelong interests. The occasional references to Rothschild women scattered through histories of the family were enough to convince me that there were fascinating stories waiting to be discovered. But works focusing exclusively on the women were scarce, amounting to a handful of essays and a few single-subject biographies. Then I stumbled on an essay by Miriam Rothschild (1908-2005), on the subject of her female ancestors. That article would transform my research. The life of the article’s author was itself evidence that the Rothschild women had been unjustly overlooked. Miriam, I discovered, was a 20th century polymath: a brilliant zoologist who had also worked as a translator at Bletchley Park, played a pioneering role in the environmental movement, supported research into schizophrenia, popularised wildflower gardening, sat as the first female trustee of the Natural History Museum, and became known as The Queen of Fleas for her world-leading expertise on the wingless insects. Towards the
end of her life Miriam became a familiar figure on TV chat shows and nature programmes – a witty and eccentric octogenarian immediately recognisable by her white gumboots (she refused to wear leather) and flowing Liberty silks. Journalists flocked to visit her at her Northamptonshire home, where she held court surrounded by a menagerie of pets, acres of rewilding land, and clouds of butterflies. ‘It is impossible to prepare for a meeting with Miriam Rothschild,’ wrote one of those who made the pilgrimage. ‘Imagine Beatrix Potter on amphetamines and you come close.’ Towards the end of her long and varied life, Miriam started to
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investigate the history of her own ancestors. Her essay, Rothschild Women, began as a contribution to the catalogue of a 1994 exhibition at the Frankfurt Jewish Museum. Though it was short and personal, based as much on family lore and recollection as on archival research, the essay confirmed what I’d been determined to believe: that the Rothschild women were not just adjuncts to the male dynasty, dispossessed and underappreciated, but had forged their own community and history. Through Miriam’s essay, I began to learn about a whole line of remarkable Rothschild women, each of them unique in their talents, character and pursuits, yet each shaped by the circumstances and culture of the same exceptional family. The more I investigated, the more I was touched by the forgotten lives of these women.
Can you let us know about some of the family members you have focused on? The book begins with the mother of the business, Gutle, who married Mayer Amschel Rothschild in 1770. Histories of the family have often focused on the rise of Gutle’s fortunes after her marriage to Mayer Amschel, but initially most of the ascent was his. Gutle was from a wealthier and more reputable
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