Background
Known as Béatrice, she was born in Paris, France, the daughter of banker Alphonse James de Rothschild (1827–1905) and Leonora de Rothschild (1837–1911), daughter of Lionel de Rothschild.
Known as Béatrice, she was born in Paris, France, the daughter of banker Alphonse James de Rothschild (1827–1905) and Leonora de Rothschild (1837–1911), daughter of Lionel de Rothschild.
The couple maintained a home in Monte Carlo and Béatrice de Rothschild used her wealth to travel the world and to acquire a collection of paintings including Old Masters, plus sculptures, objets d"art, rare porcelain and antique furniture. Visiting his Villa Kerylos, Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild fell in love with the area and acquired a 17-acre (69,000 m2) parcel of land on Cap Ferrat where she built a luxurious Venetian style villa in the Goût Rothschild. She filled it with many of her collections and created her own private zoo with exotic birds and animals including flamingos budgerigars, monkeys, mongooses, antelopes, and gazelles.
In 1934, Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild died at the age of 69 at the Hôtel d’Angleterre in Davos, Switzerland.
She was buried in Paris in the Père Lachaise cemetery. In her will, the Baroness bequeathed Villa Ephrussi and its art collections to the Académie des Beaux Arts division of the Institut de France for use as a museum.
The property is now open to public visitation. The poet Andre de Fouquières wrote: "I remember well the face of Mistress
Maurice Ephrussi, née de Rothschild, a face with immaculately delicate features, framed by silver hair.
She was always dressed elegantly in blue, with a ribbon of the same color, and a small fox terrier lying at her feet. Born into a limitless horizon of wealth, yet not conspicuous, except when she held generous parties and, I remember, in particular, one summer night, when we had the privilege to see, in her gardens, which drew from her mansion across to the sea, and bathed in moonlight, Anna Pavlova dancing to the Chopin nocturnes.".
In 1883, Béatrice de Rothschild married the Russian-born banker Maurice Ephrussi, a member of the Ephrussi family.