HENRI DE ROTHSCHILD, 1872–1947 the History of Medicine in Context

HENRI DE ROTHSCHILD, 1872–1947 The History of Medicine in Context Series Editors: Andrew Cunningham and Ole Peter Grell Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Cambridge Department of History Open University Titles in this series include Centres of Medical Excellence? Medical Travel and Education in Europe, 1500–1789 Edited by Ole Peter Grell, Andrew Cunningham and Jon Arrizabalaga The Anatomist Anatomis’d An Experimental Discipline in Enlightenment Europe Andrew Cunningham Crafting Immunity Working Histories of Clinical Immunology Edited by Kenton Kroker, Jennifer Keelan and Pauline M.H. Mazumdar Before My Helpless Sight Suffering, Dying and Military Medicine on the Western Front, 1914–1918 Leo van Bergen Negotiating the French Pox in Early Modern Germany Claudia Stein Ireland and Medicine in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Edited by James Kelly and Fiona Clark Henri de Rothschild, 1872–1947 Medicine and Theater HARRY W. PAUL University of Florida, USA ROUTLEDGE Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2011 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © Harry W. Paul 2011 Harry W. Paul has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing form the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Paul, Harry W. Henri de Rothschild, 1872–1947: Medicine and Theater. – (The History of Medicine in Context) 1. Rothschild, Henri de, 1872–1947 – Career in medicine. 2. Rothschild, Henri de, 1872–1947--Dramatic works. 3. Rothschild, Henri de, 1872–1947 – Family. 4. Pascal, Andre, 1872–1947 – Criticism and interpretation. 5. Physicians – France – Biography. 6. Medical innovations – France – History – 20th century. 7. Physicians in literature. 8. Medicine in literature. 9. French drama – 20th century – History and criticism. 10. Paris (France) – Intellectual life – 20th century. I. Title II. Series 610.9’2–dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Paul, Harry W. Henri de Rothschild, 1872–1947: Medicine and Theater / Harry W. Paul. p. ; cm. – (History of Medicine in Context) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Rothschild, Henri de, 1872–1947. 2. Physicians – France – Biography. 3. Pediatricians – France – Biography. 4. Philanthropists – France – Biography. 5. Dramatists – France – Biography. I. Title. II. Series: History of medicine in context. [DNLM: 1. Rothschild, Henri de, 1872–1947. 2. Physicians – France – Biography. 3. Gift Giving – France – Biography. 4. Health Facilities – history – France--Biography. 5. History, 19th Century – France – Biography. 6. History, 20th Century – France – Biography. 7. Pediatrics – history – France – Biography. WZ 100] R507.R67P38 2010 610.92–dc22 [B] 2010041850 ISBN 9781409405153 (hbk) Contents List of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Resurrecting Baron Henri de Rothschild, M.D. 1 PART I: THE ROTHSCHILD FAMILY MEDICAL TRADITION 1 The Hospital that James Mayer (“le grand baron”) Built 17 2 The Rothschild Children’s Hospital at Berck-sur-Mer 27 3 An Education at the Paris Faculty of Medicine 49 4 Henri de Rothschild’s Medical Empire in Paris 83 5 The Science of Infant Feeding 117 6 A New Medical Speciality: Pediatrics 141 7 Rothschild Medical Service in World War I 175 PART II: ROTHSCHILD’S HIPPOCRATIC THEATER 8 The Doctor-Playwright 205 9 Doctor-Charlatans in Contemporary Society (Circa 1900) 213 10 Medical Ethics: Le Caducée 233 11 The Female Doctor’s Dilemma: La Vocation 251 Conclusion: The 1930s: Medical Götterdämmerung 273 Bibliography 287 Index 301 List of Figures 1 James Edouard de Rothschild (1844–1881, father of Henri) in uniform during the Franco-Prussian war. The Rothschild Archive, London. 169 2 James Edouard de Rothschild in legal dress; he was briefly a practicing lawyer. The Rothschild Archive, London. 170 3 Dr. François Calot, head surgeon at the Rothschild hospital, Berck-Plage. The Rothschild Archive, London. 171 4 The Rothschild hospital at Berck-Plage, built by James Edouard and named after his father, Nathaniel. The Rothschild Archive, London. 172 5 Cartoon of Henri de Rothschild (1872–1947). Reproduced from a copy in the Rothschild Archive, London, with the permission of the owner, Frédéric Vincent. The Rothschild Archive, London. 173 6 Photograph of Laura Thérèse de Rothschild (1847–1931, mother of Henri), photographed at Villa Madrid, Cannes in 1922 by Charles Vincent and presented to The Rothschild Archive, by his great-grandson, Frédéric Vincent. The Rothschild Archive London. 174 Acknowledgements For assistance in resurrecting Henri de Rothschild, M.D., I thank Melanie Aspey and the staff at The Rothschild Archive London and the personnel of the Archives de Paris, the Archives Nationales (Centre des archives du monde, Roubaix), the Archives de l’Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, the Service historique de la défense – Centre historique des archives, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Eric de Rothschild kindly gave me permission to consult the Rothschild documents in French archives. It has been a pleasure working with Emily Yates, commissioning editor, history, and Kirsten Weissenberg, senior editor, at Ashgate Publishing, as well as with my copyeditor, Diane Wardle. Lisa Scholey compiled the index. And for help and advice over the years, I thank Claire Orologas, Director of Education and Public Programs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. I remind everyone, including those I carelessly failed to thank, of La Rochefoucauld’s canny observation that gratitude is a secret hope for future favors. Introduction Resurrecting Baron Henri de Rothschild, M.D. .. A rare instance of the heir to wealth who has devoted his whole energy to science and philanthropy .. 1 Henri de Rothschild (1872–1947) was the great grandson of the founding father of the French Rothschild enterprise, James Mayer (1792–1868), who settled in France in 1811. James Mayer established the first Rothschild hospital in Paris; it was later expanded and modernized by his son Edmond (1845–1934), an enthusiastic supporter of scientific research. Henri’s paternal grandfather, Nathaniel (1812– 70), was the son of Nathan Mayer (1777–1836), who established the Rothschild business and bank in London. Nathaniel came to the Paris bank at the invitation of his uncle, James Mayer, married the artistic and socially prominent Charlotte (1825–99), James Mayer’s only daughter, and became a partner in the bank. James Edouard (1844–81), their son, married Laura Thérèse (1847–1931), one of the daughters of the Frankfurt Rothschilds, who were also seriously involved in medical activities.2 In the 1870s James Edouard set up an important medical establishment at Berck-sur-Mer; the hospital was lovingly tended and developed by his widow. Thérèse’s uncle Adolphe and aunt Julie later established an ophthalmological hospital in the northeast (19th arrondissement) of Paris. Deep in his medical studies, Henri escaped from his mother’s Paris compound in 1895 by marrying Mathilde de Weisweiller (1874–1926), daughter of the financier Georges de Weisweiller. Mathilde managed to integrate her fantastic social life with considerable charitable work and medical activity. The context of great wealth, closeness to political 1 Cecil Roth, The Jewish Contribution to Civilization (1938; New York, 1940), 340. 2 The authoritative guide to all this begetting is The Rothschild Family Tree (London, 2000). Interesting and sometimes unreliable is Henri de Rothschild [HR], La Lignée française de la famille Rothschild 1792–1942. Etude historique et biographique (Oporto, 1942). Henri’s connection with the English branch of the family was further solidified in the marriage of his maternal aunt, Emma Louisa (1844–1935), to Nathaniel Mayer (1840–1915), the first Lord Rothschild. On intermarriages of Jewish business and banking dynasties, see Abigail Green, “Rethinking Sir Moses Montefiore: Religion, Nationhood, and International Philanthropy in the Nineteenth Century,” American Historical Review 110 (June 2005): 631–58. 2 HENRI DE ROTHSCHILD, 1872–1947 power, family patronage of elite culture, and medical philanthropy makes up an important part of the social world into which Henri was born. In a superb study of the house of Rothschild as the world’s banker, Niall Ferguson does not have to spend much time on Henri de Rothschild, a French “sleeping” partner in the bank. Henri is damned with faint praise as “another of the fifth generation’s scientists.” Classifying him as a “misanthropic” doctor, Ferguson notes that Henri “published extensively on ... infant nutrition” and took an interest in “the medical use of radium.” 3 All of this is not enough for Henri to escape the dreadful label of dabbler.4 “He also dabbled in the theater, as a sponsor of the famous 1909 tour by Diaghilev’s Ballet russe [sic], and as an amateur playwright using the nom de plume ‘André Pascal’.”5 In 1909 Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) took a troupe of Russian dancers to Paris, where their dynamic performance at the Châtelet theater created a sensation. The troupe was then baptized as the Ballets russes company. It is misleading to say that Henri, the author of many successful plays, dabbled in the theater. One mid-nineteenth-century line of propaganda about Jews was dangerously flattering: “Today [c. 1885] the barons of Israel represent luxury … charity … the arts … the smart set … fashion’s latest style.”6 In the Belle Epoque it appears difficult to find many figures more deserving than Henri of this bigoted praise.

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