The Rothschilds

[Steven Christian]

It already was by 1912. Rothschild branches in multiple European countries had received noble titles. But Martin and Elizabeth Rothschild were no relation to that family. A biography of Dorothy Parker that discusses the couple mentions that they enjoyed being mistaken for two of those Rothschilds. I don't know if this is true (some other details of them were got wrong in the bio), but if it is true, I assume it was more that they enjoyed thinking that people were making the assumption rather than perpetrated an active ruse.

Yes. I think there has been lots of confusion about which families were which. If the american clan that Martin belonged to was related to the european clan earlier I'm not sure about that. But the american Rothschild's made there fortune independent of the european branch. Martin R. made his own fortune. The Rothschild empire (european branch) today is valued around 400 billion according to Forbes. But I suspect its more than that. It's not so much what you own but what you control. Either way the Titanic's Rothschild's weren't suffering from lack of taco money. They did quite well.

 

[Brian Ahern]

Yes. I think there has been lots of confusion about which families were which. If the american clan that Martin belonged to was related to the european clan earlier I'm not sure about that. But the american Rothschild's made there fortune independent of the european branch. Martin R. made his own fortune. The Rothschild empire (european branch) today is valued around 400 billion according to Forbes. But I suspect its more than that. It's not so much what you own but what you control. Either way the Titanic's Rothschild's weren't suffering from lack of taco money. They did quite well.

Because of the Dorothy Parker connection, Martin's family background has had quite a bit written about it. Every source I've seen says they were not related. I have read that Martin's parents encouraged their chldren to marry outside the Jewish faith, for the sake of lessening the prejudice they might encounter. Martin's brother Jacob married a Protestant. One wonders if Martin marrying a working class Irish Catholic was what his parents would have advised.

 

[Steven Christian]

Because of the Dorothy Parker connection, Martin's family background has had quite a bit written about it. Every source I've seen says they were not related. I have read that Martin's parents encouraged their chldren to marry outside the Jewish faith, for the sake of lessening the prejudice they might encounter. Martin's brother Jacob married a Protestant. One wonders if Martin marrying a working class Irish Catholic was what his parents would have advised.

That's interesting. Martin's father was an immigrant and probably believed in the idea of america being a melting pot and that was the best way to be part of it and become successful. The european Rothschild's took the opposite track. They were worried about losing their fortunes and married within the family after awhile. I'm not really up on the american family other than I know he had brothers. Whether they were all as successful as Martin I don't know. As for his wife what little I've read it seems they genuinely liked each other. So probably more of boy loves girl than following his fathers advice. I know I didn't take my dads advice on marriage...LOL. Cheers.