Evelyn de Rothschild

British financier (1931–2022)
the financier born in 1931

Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (29 August 1931 – 7 November 2022) was a British financier and a member of the Rothschild family.

Evelyn de Rothschild was born on 29 August 1931, to a Jewish family. The 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, Cambridge, but dropped out before gaining a degree. Born into great wealth, he 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 of 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.

In 1967, Sir Evelyn created the Eranda Foundation to support social welfare, promote the arts and to encourage research into medicine and education. De Rothschild served as Queen Elizabeth II's financial adviser. He was 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 was 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 was a board member of the Snowdon Trust, founded by the Earl of Snowdon, which provides grants and scholarships for students with disabilities.

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. Jeannette Bishop died in late 1980 or during 1981 along with former family cook and interpreter Gabriella Guerin. The two were allegedly killed. Rothschild married for a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (1949–2021), the daughter of Florida property developer Lewis Schott and his wife Marcia W. Schott (née Whitney). The marriage, which ended in divorce in 2000,
David Mayer de Rothschild (25 August 1978). On 30 November 2000, Rothschild 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.

Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 1989 New Year Honours.

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild owned homes in London, New York City, Martha's Vineyard, and Buckinghamshire, where he lived at Ascott House, a country estate owned by the National Trust.