23 February 1744 – 10 Adar 5504
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, son of Amschel Moses and Schönche Rothschild, was born in the Frankfurt Ghetto. Advancing what started as a business in rare coins, Rothschild became the main financier for the German Hesse-Kassel dukedom, then branched into banking on a larger scale. His five sons each set up a branch of the bank in a different European capital, laying the foundations for the Rothschild financial empire of today. The family bank became a primary source of Jewish philanthropy throughout the world, but especially in Ottoman Palestine. The Rothschild name has become synonymous with wealth, and the family was probably once, at the peak of its power and influence, the richest in the world, with interests all over the globe.