The Ephrussi family were a Ukrainian Jewish banking and oil dynasty.
Family members made their fortune controlling grain distribution in the Ukraine, and later controlled large-scale oil resources across the Crimea and the Caucasus. From 1856, members of the family established banking houses in Vienna, Paris, and Athens. The Austrian branch of the family were elevated to the nobility by the Habsburg emperor.
During the 19th century, the family possessed vast wealth, owning many castles, palaces, and estates in Europe. The family were known for their connoisseurship, intellectual interests, and their huge collections of art.
The family's bank and properties were seized by the Nazis after the March 1938 German annexation of Austria.
The family name is considered to be a variation of "Ephrati", a Jewish family name attested in various countries since the 14th Century and still current in present-day Israel, in this case transformed through the Ashkenazi pronunciation (Ephrati-Ephrassi-Ephrussi).
Notable members of the Ephrussi include:
- Béatrice de Rothschild-Ephrussi (1864-1934) - part of the Rothschild family
- Boris Ephrussi (1901-1979), influential French geneticist (his wife, Harriet Ephrussi-Taylor, 1918-1968, was also a geneticist and crystallographer)
- Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905), art historian, proprietor of the "Gazette des Beaux-Arts", an inspiration for Charles Swann in Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu
- Ignaz von Ephrussi (1829-1899), Austrian banker
- Jules Ephrussi (1846-1915), French banker
- Marie Juliette Ephrussi, Princesse de Faucigny-Lucinge, (born 1880) - Princess de Faucigny-Lucinge
- Maurice Ephrussi (1849-1916), French banker
- Michel Ephrussi (1845-1914), French banker
- Viktor von Ephrussi (1860-1945), Austrian banker
- Fanny Reinach
Properties included:
- Palais Ephrussi is a Ringstraßenpalais - Vienna.
- Villa Ephrussi - Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the Côte d'Azur
- Hôtel de Breteuil, 12 Avenue Foch, Paris
- Hôtel Ephrussi, 81 Rue de Monceau, Paris
- Hôtel 11, Avenue d'Iéna, Paris
- Villa Kerylos on the Côte d'Azur
Read more about Ephrussi Family: Other Ephrussi, The Hare With Amber Eyes
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Though a family be a thousand, there can be only one in charge.”
—Chinese proverb.