French family papers

In this section will be found descriptions of discrete accessions of papers concerning individual Rothschild family members, arranged by the name of the family member to which they relate. Papers relating to members of the Rothschild family not born in France but who made their primary adult residence in France will be found listed here. 

The range and quantity of surviving papers held by The Rothschild Archive varies enormously. A few small collections of personal correspondence of the French Rothschild family are held by the Departement des Manuscrits, Bibilothèque Nationale de France, Paris. See French family papers held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France for information about these collections.

For information about collections of the French Rothschild family donated to French museums see 000/2940 for the three-volume work Les Rothschild, une dynastie de mécènes en France, Pauline Prevost-Marcilhacy (Somogy Editions d'Art, 2016), which documents the French Rothschild family's donations of over 120,000 works of art, such as the drawings and prints bequeathed by Edmond de Rothschild to the Louvre in 1934, Henri de Rothschild’s bequest in 1933 and 1947 of autographs and rare books to the Bibliothèque Nationale and gifts of Alphonse de Rothschild to French provincial museums.

See also:

Named Collections, The Lafite Papers. The collection known as the Lafite Papers mostly to the French branch of the Rothschild family in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were transferred to Château Lafite following the nationalisation of the bank in 1981. They include papers concerning the operation of the Bank; papers relating to the family's properties and estates handled by the Bank on behalf of the family and papers held in the Bank for safekeeping, mainly concerning personal matters including estates, philanthropy, collections, and family events.

Named Collections, The Moscow Papers (58 series). These records, transferred to the Archive in June 1994, formed Fond 58 in the Centre for the Preservation of Historico-Documentary Collections in Moscow, previously known as the Special Archive, which was established in 1946 to house documents captured during the Second World War. The collection consists of 1,395 files relating to 26 members of the Rothschild family and their relatives.  

Access to some of these collections is restricted at the request of the donors and depositors. All papers later than 1945 are currently closed to researchers; for further information please contact The Rothschild Archive »