Alix Hermine Jeanette de Rothschild (née Schey de Koromla) (1911-1982)

Alix Hermine Jeanette Schey de Koromla (1911-1982) was born in Frankfurt. She married her cousin Guy de Rothschild (1909-2007) in 1937, after the death of her first husband, Otto Krahmer, with whom she had a daughter, Lili Adelaide.

Guy and Alix resided at 21 Avenue Foch in Paris, and also at the Château de Reux, Normandy, which Guy had inherited. In October 1941, the couple sought refuge in New York, where their son David was born in 1942. Returning to settle at Reux in 1956, Guy and Alix separated in 1957. Alix was elected the local mayor in 1974, and served the municipality for nearly 30 years.

Art collections

In the 1950s, Alix developed a keen interest in artists from the second School of Paris and German Impressionists, collecting over 2,000 pieces, including 'Le Lavoir' by Pablo Picasso. She also developed an interest in African art, and what was then termed 'Primitive' art. Alix joined the council of the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 1961. In 1962, she became president of the Society of Friends of the Museum of Man, a museum that focused on ethnography, anthropology and natural history. Under her mandate, the museum organised major exhibitions and events. She also donated pieces to museums in Le Havre, Caen, and Honfleur. During her lifetime, Alix was the recipient of multiple awards: the 'Chevalier des palmes academiques' and 'Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres et du Merite social'. After her death, much of her collection was dispersed.