A legacy revisited, rethought, and renewed.
For over 150 years, the Edmond de Rothschild generations have engaged in the arts, culture, health, and social initiatives to answer the needs of their time. The family has sustained this tradition of giving, transforming it from charity into systemic philanthropy.
Where Values Meet Action
Today, the family’s philanthropic activities are carried out through two complementary pillars: operational foundations and grant-making foundations.
On the one hand, Ariane de Rothschild chairs operational foundations which raise funds to run and manage their programmes: the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital (HFAR), a leading non-profit hospital specialized in head and neck; OPEJ Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, a child protection NGO active in the greater Paris area; and the Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships, carrying out leadership programmes for youth from diverse backgrounds – all of which are rooted in the family’s long-standing commitment to social care.
She also leads the grant-making foundations—Edmond de Rothschild Foundations in New York, Geneva, and Caesarea, as well as Fundación Ariane de Rothschild in Madrid—which concentrate on two areas: arts & well-being and social development & cohesion.
Beyond financial support, the team accompanies partners in strengthening governance, developing their models, making their causes heard, and linking partners to key actors, while ensuring that the entire process is environmentally, socially, and ethically responsible.
Systemic philanthropy
Over the years, the family has evolved its approach to philanthropy, progressing in parallel with the development of the sector and transforming its practices—from charitable action to strategic philanthropy, and now focusing on a more systemic approach. Today, we aim to apply systemic philanthropy, a strategic approach that considers the supported organization in a holistic way and addresses the root causes of social challenges while fostering lasting and transformative change.
Rather than focusing solely on funding individual projects or short-term solutions (for example, supporting a specific program or service), systemic philanthropy looks at the broader system in which a problem exists and within which its partners operate. This includes public policies, institutions, power dynamics, cultural norms, economic structures, and the relationships between different stakeholders. The goal is to create long-term structural change.
In short, systemic philanthropy seeks to achieve sustainable impact by transforming the systems that produce inequality or exclusion, rather than merely addressing their consequences.
” Beyond surviving, we aim for our partners to thrive.”
The organizational support is tailored to each partner’s needs. It includes identifying key development and structuring levers where meaningful value can be added, such as governance, growth strategy, scaling, and the improvement of internal and external processes.
The support also aims to help partners design action models that are replicable and can serve as examples for other organizations. In addition, it includes advocacy and voice amplification — either by supporting project leaders in making their voices heard or by speaking on their behalf to raise awareness among public authorities, philanthropic actors, ecosystem stakeholders, and the wider public, including internationally.
Finally, partners benefit from networking opportunities with other foundations, corporate actors, and service providers, as well as participation in annual partner gatherings and thematic peer workshops to share practices and collectively address common challenges.
Tracing our roots
Edmond de Rothschild (1845–1934), the youngest son of James (1792–1868) and Betty de Rothschild (1805–1886), grew up in an environment rich in intellectual and artistic influences. His parents, deeply committed to social causes, had established the French branch of the Rothschild family and hosted a renowned Parisian salon bringing together notables such as Alexandre Dumas, Honoré de Balzac, and Frédéric Chopin. They also organized galas and lotteries to fund charitable initiatives, which included a hospital and an orphanage.
Shaped by his cultured upbringing, Edmond developed a deep and diverse passion for the arts and a keen curiosity for the sciences. His dedication to fostering knowledge, education, and access in these areas was a driving force throughout his life. His travels further expanded his understanding of society’s needs and opportunities available at the time, allowing him to support bold and innovative social solutions.
Edmond de Rothschild’s portrait
by Rene Godard
Broadening Access to
Cultural Treasures
Edmond de Rothschild collection at the Louvre Museum
A passionate and discerning art collector, who acquired and donated to several museums across France, prints, drawings, paintings, costumes, and sculptures, Edmond championed the idea of sharing knowledge and cultural treasures with a wider public.
Boscoreale Treasure at the Louvre Museum
In 1895, for instance, he acquired the Boscoreale Treasure—Roman silverware and jewelry unearthed near Pompeii—and immediately donated it to the Louvre Museum, where it could be preserved and studied. His generosity extended to his private collection of prints and drawings. He left carefully drafted instructions for the donation of his collection composed of more than 90,000 pieces, including drawings from masters such as Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci, to the Louvre Museum after he died in 1935 by his children. This donation alone led to the creation of the Louvre’s Graphic Arts Department—a resource that remains open to researchers and is presented to the public through exhibitions.
Pioneering Scientific
Endeavors
Edmond recognized the vital role of scientific discovery in advancing society’s knowledge of the past and future.
Institute of Physical and Chemical Biology (IBPC)
In addition to supporting archaeologists like Charles Clermont-Ganneau, he founded a Paris-based organization in 1921 to aid leading scientists, including Nobel Prize winners Marie Curie and Jean Perrin. It was Perrin who, between the two world wars, when science was starving for development funds, persuaded Edmond to support the creation of the French Institute of Physical and Chemical Biology (IBPC) in 1927. A groundbreaking organization that brought together biologists, physicists, and chemists, the IBPC revolutionized scientific research by fostering multidisciplinary collaboration and allowing scholars to focus full-time on their work. This institute laid the foundations for the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the French national research organisation founded in 1939, of which it is now a part.
Addressing Social
Challenges
Edmond was also concerned with social issues, approaching these challenges with generous and audacious initiatives.
In 1904, Edmond and his brothers founded the Compagnie de Logement Social [HBM] Fondation Rothschild, which built 1,200 affordable housing units in Paris. This ambitious project, both in size and scope, included excellent sanitation and educational facilities, setting a new standard for social housing in France.
In the early 1900s, Edmond also expanded the hospital founded by his father on Rue de Picpus in Paris, equipping it with the latest technology available at the time.
The common area at Le Toit Familial
Edmond and Adelheid de Rothschild visit the early settlements of the Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution
Many decades later, the hospital was incorporated into the public healthcare system. Earlier, starting in 1877, Edmond led the Comité de Bienfaisance Israélite de Paris (CBIP), which offered healthcare and other services to the Jewish community. Through this mechanism, his wife, Adelheid von Rothschild, also contributed to these efforts, donating a building to CBIP to support the establishment of Le Toit Familial, a center that provided not only shelter for young single women migrating to the city but also access to education and vocational training.
Edmond’s generosity extended beyond France, as he committed to support, as of the 1880s, the Jewish migrants fleeing persecutions in Russia and eastern Europe, who settled in the “the Land of our ancestors”, as he would call it, at the time under Ottoman rule. He provided funding, land, and resources to support healthcare, education, and agricultural and economic development, including digging wells, introducing new crops and livestock, and fostering local industries such as silk and wine production.
Building
in the past
The family remains committed to these values, adapting to the evolving needs of each generation while preserving the philanthropic tradition that Edmond shaped. Since Edmond’s time, three generations of Rothschilds have continued this work.
Ariane de Rothschild with the laureates of the Ariane de Rothschild Women’s Doctoral Program
The collective efforts of the Edmond de Rothschild Family Philanthropy are driven by the belief that action grounded in shared values can improve social conditions and create positive change for all. The stories shared here are an invitation for others to be inspired and take action
Please note that potential grantees are identified through research and fieldwork, while we greatly appreciate your interest, we do not have the capacity to process unsolicited funding applications.