Cécile de Rothschild (née Anspach) (1840-1912)

Cécile Anspach married Baron Gustave de Rothschild (1829-1911) in 1859. Gustave was expected to marry a cousin, and his family hoped that he would propose to one of his cousins, Mathilde von Rothschild (1832-1924) or Evelina de Rothschild (1839-1866). Instead, in 1859, Gustave married Cécile, the daughter of a high official in the Court of Cassation.

The couple made their home in Paris at  23 avenue de Marigny; originally three houses which the couple transformed and aligned to create a very successful new house. The purchases, made between 1869 and 1879, were probably made at the instigation of Cécile, and she was instrumental in the decoration of the house. Inside and out, the house was embellished with elements from 18th century Parisian houses, taken from other properties destined to be demolished. Cécile’s art teacher painted allegorical scenes over the doors in the Louis XV drawing-room, incorporating portraits of members of the family, while Cécile herself added sculptures to the mantelpieces. In 1874 Gustave de Rothschild bought Laversine Park on a vast plateau overlooking the Oise, which became the family’s country residence.

Cécile and Gustave had six children; Octave who died in infancy in 1860; Zoé (Lucie) Betty (1863–1916), who married Belgian banker Léon Lambert in 1882; Aline Caroline (1867–1909), who married Sir Edward Albert Sassoon (1856–1912) in 1887; Bertha Juliette de Rothschild (1870–1896), André de Rothschild (1874–1877), who died young, and Robert (1880–1946), who married Gabrielle Nelly Régine Beer in 1907.