Philippine de Rothschild

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Baroness Philippine Pascale de Rothschild (born 1935 ) is a daughter of the famous vintner, Baron Philippe de Rothschild. When she was just ten she witnessed the Gestapo arrest her mother, Elisabeth de Rothschild, who later died at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

In 1958 she graduated from the Paris Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique and acted in La Comédie Française with Catherine Deneuve. She would later play one of the leading roles in Harold and Maude with Madeleine Renaud between 1973 and 1980.

She met the French theater director and actor, Jacques Sereys. They married in 1961 and raised three children, Camille, born in 1961, Philippe, born in 1963, and Julien, born in 1971. The couple are now divorced, but Sereys remains on the board of Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A.

Philippine entered her father's wine business in the late 1970's. When Philippe died in 1988, Philippine inherited three estates in Bordeaux - Mouton Rothschild, Château d'Armailhac and Clerc Milon. She also became chairman and majority owner of Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A. At the time of her fathers death the company sold 1.3 million cases of wine a year. By 2000 sales had almost doubled to 2.1 million cases. In 1999 sales amounted to around $155 million.

Her wine holdings include - Château Mouton Rothschild, Château d'Armailhac, Château Clerc Milon, Domaine de Lambert, Baron Arques, Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton-Cadet, Opus One and Vina Almaviva.

In 1997 the Baroness was off the coast of Greece when the vessel they were on caught fire and the passengers had to be evacuated. She said to a friend, while in the water "You see, there are moments when it doesn't help to be a Rothschild."

Her personal wealth has been estimated at 190 millions euros by Le Nouvel Economiste.

She is a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur.