Mathilde von Rothschild was born in Frankfurt, the second oldest daughter of Charlotte and
Anselm von Rothschild, a chief of the Vienna House of Rothschild. Mathilde was talented in music and studied with
Frédéric Chopin. In 1849, she married the banker
Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild, a cousin of her father. The couple first resided in the Rothschild house on the
Zeil (Zeilpalast), but later moved to a palace in Grüneburg, and also lived in a villa in
Königstein im Taunus. They had three daughters two of whom survived childhood,
Adelheid Rothschild (who married her cousin
Edmond James de Rothschild) and Minna Caroline Rothschild (who married
Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild). Von Rothschild made grants to a number of foundations including The Rothschilds' Hospital Foundation and the Georgine Sara von Rothschilds' Hospital Foundation. She also funded orphanages, sanatoriums, rest homes for the elderly, research projects for the
University of Heidelberg and The Jewish Museum of Antiquities. She also founded the at Frankfurt am Main. Von Rothschild wrote songs for singers including
Selma Kurz and
Adelina Patti. In 1878 she published a volume of 30 melodies in which we find two poems by
Victor Hugo: "Vieille chanson du jeune temps" and "Si vous n'avez rien à me dire" (cf.
Bibliothèque nationale de France). In the late 1880s, she published a volume of twelve songs titled
Zwölf Lieder für Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung which featured the work of several poets set to music, including poet and dramatist
Franz von Dingelstedt, epic poet
Friedrich von Bodenstedt, Frankfurt writer
Wilhelm Jordan, Russian writer
Alexey Tolstoy and French writer and librettist
Paul Collin. She amassed an art collection including old masters and also the work of popular artists including
Gerard Dou,
Jan Steen and
Gabriel Metsu. ==Recorded works==