TheEphrussi family (French pronunciation:[ɛfʁysi]) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family. The family's bank and properties wereseized by theNazi authorities after the 1938 "Anschluss", the annexation of Austria byNazi Germany.
The Ephrussi family progenitor was Charles Joachim Ephrussi (1792–1864) fromBerdichev,Ukraine. He made a fortune controlling grain distribution beginning in thefree port ofOdesa (thenRussian Empire, now Ukraine)[1] and later controlled large-scale oil resources acrossCrimea and theCaucasus. By 1860, the family was the world's largest exporter ofwheat.[1]
Charles Joachim's eldest son, Leonid (d. 1877), founded a bank in Odesa, while his brother Ignaz (1829–1899) moved to theAustrian capital,Vienna, where he established the Ephrussi & Co. banking house in 1856. In 1872, he was elevated to the noble rank ofRitter byHabsburg emperorFranz Joseph I. In 1871, Leonid, together with his younger half-brothers Michel (1845–1914) andMaurice Ephrussi (1849–1916), founded a branch in Paris, followed by subsidiaries in London and Athens.
During the 19th century, the family possessed vast wealth and owned many castles, palaces, and estates in Europe. The family members were known for their connoisseurship, intellectual interests, and their huge collections of art.[2] Leonid's sonCharles Ephrussi (1849–1905), a well-known art historian, collector and editor, became a model for the character of Charles Swann inMarcel Proust's novelIn Search of Lost Time.
The family name is considered to be a variation ofEphrati, as a reference to "Ephraim" in1 Samuel1:1, aHebrew family name attested in the 14th century in theIberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) as Efrati and later in central Europe and Russia as Ephrati or Ephrussi.[3]
Alexander de Waal (born 1963), British writer and journalist, executive director of World Peace Foundation, founder of human rights organisations African Rights and Justice Africa, director of Social Science Research Council on AIDS New York
Thomas de Waal (born 1966), British journalist (BBC,The Moscow Times andThe Times), Caucasus expert, Caucasus editor at Institute for War and Peace Reporting, senior associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
