Sara Louise (Louise) von Rothschild (1834-1924)

Sara Louise von Rothschild, daughter of Anselm and Charlotte, was born in Vienna on 8 December 1834, and was known to her family as Louise. She married Baron Raimondo Franchetti (1829-1905) on 17 November 1858. Louise de Rothschild Franchetti, as she styled herself, shared characteristics of industriousness and strength of personality with her husband. These traits may have made them appear remote to their three children, Alberto (1860-1942) who became a composer, Edoardo (1862-1926) and Giorgio Gioacchino (1865-1922). Having spent a few years in Turin, the couple moved to the Franchetti palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice, staying often at Viu and at their Palladian villa San Trovaso. In the 1870s, Louise began to buy large tracts of land in Italy, supplementing the already significant Franchetti estates. At her death in Venice in 1924, she left one of the largest fortunes in Italy.

Her grandson, Raimondo Franchetti (1889-1935) was  a famous explorer who travelled extensively in Ethiopia  and charted hitherto unexplored territories during the 1920s. On his return from an expedition to Ethiopia, his plane exploded over Cairo in 1935. His daughter, Afdera Franchetti (1931-2025) was the fourth wife of the American actor Henry Fonda.