through a donation carried out by his wife, Nadine de Rothschild, in 1998. In France, Edmond de Rothschild supported the children's welfare association Œuvre pour la protection des enfants juifs (OPEJ), originally founded to aid children of Jewish victims of the Vichy-era deportations. He became its president in 1969, offering OPEJ the Château de Maubuisson north of Paris (Val d'Oise). Under his guidance, the OPEJ was opened to all children regardless of faith or family background in 1981. Nadine de Rothschild continued this work after her husband's death. The institution has been presided by members of his family ever since. Edmond de Rothschild's grandfather, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, had set up the acquisition of lands in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish development in the 1800s. In the 1950s, Edmond de Rothschild donated the family's property to the new Israeli State. In 1953, he gave 7,500 acres of the town of Caesarea to the newly created Caesarea Rothschild Foundation which was co-owned by the Israeli state. The Foundation was tasked with the redistribution of Caesarea's profits to education programs in Israel. Distinctions 1990: Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 1994: Officier of the Legion of Honour See also Rothschild family Edmond de Rothschild Group Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Edmond de Rothschild Foundations Further reading References External links Edmond de Rothschild Group French bankers French philanthropists French art collectors French people of German-Jewish descent Edmond Adolphe 1926 births 1997 deaths International School of Geneva alumni Deaths from emphysema