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The origins of the Rothschild family are in Frankfurt’s Jewish quarter. Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the family patriarch, founded a bank that developed into an extensive network of financial institutions. The branches were managed by his sons, whom he sent to Europe’s capitals in order to secure the family’s economic power.
Members of the family received titles of nobility from European rulers and utilized their influence to assist other Jews who suffered from persecution. Edmond de Rothschild was also one of the staunchest supporters of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.
By the 19th century the Rothschild family was already the wealthiest family in Europe. Its wealth financed European royal courts and armies, the Industrial Revolution and was used to lay railways all over the globe. The family members also supported the Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel. Due to the family’s international influence and status the name Rothschild became synonymous with wealth, which often gave raise to antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The last Rothschild in the family tree is Samuel James de Rothschild, born in 1829. he was the older brother of Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, who supported the early settlement in Eretz Israel and was known as the “The Famous Benefactor.”