Dame Hannah Rothschild | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hannah Mary Rothschild (1962-05-22)22 May 1962 (age 63) Islington, London, England |
| Other names | Hannah Mary Brookfield |
| Alma mater | St Hilda's College, Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, businesswoman, author, philanthropist |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Yoav Gottesman |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
|
| Family | Rothschild family,Rothschild banking family of England |
| Website | hannahrothschild |
Dame Hannah Mary RothschildDBE (born 22 May 1962) is a British filmmaker, businesswoman, author, and philanthropist, who is a birth member of theRothschild banking family of England. She became the first woman to chair the board of trustees of theNational Gallery inLondon in August 2015.
Hannah Mary Rothschild was born inIslington, Greater London, England,[1] on 22 May 1962, as the eldest child toJacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, abirth member of theRothschild banking family of England,[2] and his wife,Serena Rothschild, Baroness Rothschild (née Dunn).[3] She has two sisters, Beth Matilda Rothschild (formally Tomassini) and Emily Magda Freeman-Attwood[4] (née Rothschild), and a brother,Nathaniel Rothschild, 5th Baron Rothschild.[5][6]
Rothschild's mother came from aChristian background, while her father wasJewish[7] (Rothschild'spaternal grandfather,Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, was born into a Jewish family, while Rothschild's paternal grandmother, Barbara Judith Rothschild (née Hutchinson), hadconverted to Judaism upon marriage).[8] Hermaternal grandparents were Lady Mary Sybil St. Clair-Erskine, daughter ofJames St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn andVera Mary St Clair-Erskine, Countess of Rosslyn, andSir Philip Gordon Dunn, 2nd Baronet, the only son of theCanadian financier and tycoonSir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet.
Rothschild attendedSt Paul's Girls' School andMarlborough College. She read Modern History atSt Hilda's College, Oxford and has an honorary doctorate from Hebrew University.
Rothschild started her career as aresearcher in the BBC's Music and Arts department in the mid-1980s, and quickly graduated todirecting films forSaturday Review,Arena, andOmnibus, while initiating and making programmes for the seriesThe Great Picture Chase andRelative Values.[9]
Rothschild set up Rothschild Auerbach Ltd., anindependent film company withJake Auerbach, makingdocumentaries for theBBC and others, including profiles ofFrank Auerbach,Walter Sickert andR. B. Kitaj.[10]
Rothschild joined London Films Ltd as Head of Drama in 1997, and set up the 1999 television seriesThe Scarlet Pimpernel, starringRichard E. Grant.[11]
Rothschild returned to filmmaking and directed three films for the BBC'sStoryville series, andHBO. She produced and directedThe Jazz Baroness (2008), about her great-aunt[12]Pannonica de Koenigswarter's exploits in and support ofNew York City's jazz world, following a radio programme on the same subject.[13] This was followed in 2009 byHi Society, afly-on-the-wall documentary aboutNicky Haslam, the interior designer, author and society darling. In 2010,Mandelson: The Real PM?, followed the UK's formerBusiness SecretaryPeter Mandelson in the run-up to the2010 general election.[14][15]
Rothschild, inspired by theStoryville programme, wrote abiography of her great-aunt,The Baroness: The Search for Nica the Rebellious Rothschild, which was published byVirago in 2012.[16] The book was described as "Riveting, touching and insightful" byThe Daily Telegraph. A few years earlier, a radio documentary profile of Nica,The Jazz Baroness, was broadcast onBBC Radio 4 in February 2008.[17]
Rothschild's documentaries and shorts have aired on the BBC, HBO,PBS, and others, and have been screened and won awards atTelluride,[18]Tribecca,[19]London, andSheffield festivals.[20]
Rothschild has writtenscreenplays for Working Title andRidley Scott.[21] She also wrote a history ofChannel 4's films and filmmakers, contributed to anthologies includingCorfu, theGarden Isle (ISBN 0-7195-5375-X), andVirago at 40.[22]
Rothschild's firstnovel,The Improbability of Love, was published in May 2015.[23] The story follows a femaleprotagonist who comes across a lostWatteau and becomes embroiled in the dealings of the art world's elite.The Guardian, said: "her depiction of the rarefied art world is gripping". The book was shortlisted for theBaileys Prize[24] and was joint winner of theBollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.[25][26] It has been translated into more than 20 languages and was chosen as one ofWaterstones "Books of the Year".[27]
Rothschild's third book, a novel,The House of Trelawney (ISBN 9781526600608), was published in February 2020 by Bloomsbury and Knopf.[28][29] The book follows the lives and fortunes of three generations of a dysfunctionalCornisharistocratic family through thecrash of 2008. Described byAmanda Craig inThe Guardian as "Irresistible fun"[30] and byLynn Barber inThe Daily Telegraph as a "gripping family saga".[31] "Her style has been compared to composites such as Waugh and Mitford, which are apt in terms of both style and milieu, but comparisons can also be made to Austen and Dickens, as she shares their ability to create comic characters and to then put those characters in situations that allows the author to make satirical/social commentary."[32] The book was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for 2020.[citation needed]
Rothschild's fourth book, a novel,High Time, was published in June 2023 by Bloomsbury and Knopf.[33][34]
Rothschild haslectured on art and literature at the Getty Institute, Courtauld, the Royal Academy, the Hay Festival, and others.[35]
Rothschild haswritten for many publications, includingThe Times,[36]The New York Times,The Observer,The Guardian,The Daily Telegraph,[37]Vanity Fair,Vogue,The Spectator,Harper's Bazaar,Financial Times,[38]Elle,The Washington Post, and others.
Rothschild is a non-executive director ofRIT Capital Partners[39][40] and Windmill Hill Asset Management.[41]
Rothschild became a trustee ofLondon'sNational Gallery in 2009,[42] after applying to an advertisement inThe Guardian. In 2013, she became the liaison trustee for theTate Gallery.[43] In August 2015, she became the first woman to chair the National Gallery's board.[44] In 2017, her term was extended by four years, however, she resigned from the position in June 2019, citing a wish to devote more time to writing and to her family's wide-ranging activities and philanthropic concerns.[45] She remained as Chair of the American Friends of the National Gallery, a post she's held since August 2015.[46]
Rothschild is the chair of The Rothschild Foundation,[47] aregistered charity,[48] whose activities include preservingWaddesdon Manor inBuckinghamshire, on behalf of its owner, theNational Trust.[49]
Rothschild has previously served as a trustee of theWhitechapel Gallery and theInstitute of Contemporary Arts. She co-founded the charity Artists on Film.[50]
Rothschild organised theIlluminated River[51] project to lightCentral London's bridges, transforming theRiver Thames at night "from a snake of darkness into a ribbon of light."[52] An international jury, chaired by her, chose American artistLeo Villareal and in July 2019, the first five of fifteen bridges were lit. The final bridge was lit in April 2021.[53]
Rothschild married William Lord Brookfield, an American filmmaker, inWestminster, Greater London, on 7 March 1994.[54] They have three daughters together. The couple later separated and their divorce was finalised in 2000, after six years of marriage.[55]
Rothschild is in a long-term relationship with the businessman Yoav Gottesman.[31]
Rothschild resides in a residential district inPaddington, London, in the same house she grew up in.[56]
Rothschild was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) byElizabeth II in the2018 Birthday Honours, for services to the arts and charity.[57]
Rothschild was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Science in 2021.[58]
She is an honorary fellow of the Israel Museum and holds an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University.
Rothschild was appointedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) byCharles III in the2024 Birthday Honours, for services to philanthropy in the arts, culture and charity sectors.[59]
