Emma Georgina Rothschild (born 16 May 1948) is a British

economic historian Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

, a professor of history at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. She is director of the Joint Centre for History and Economics at Harvard, and an honorary Professor of History and Economics at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. She formerly served as board member of United Nations Foundation and as a professor at the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

(EHESS) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. She is a member of the

Rothschild banking family of England The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in (1798) by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild (1777–1836) who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London (at the time in the Kingdom of Great Britain). Nathan was sent there from his ...

and a trustee of the Rothschild Archive, the international centre in London for research into the history of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Fr ...

Early life and education

Rothschild was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the daughter of

Victor Rothschild Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (31 October 1910 – 20 March 1990) was a British banker, scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & So ...

(1910–1990) and his second wife, Teresa Georgina Rothschild (née Mayor; 1915–1996). On her father's side, she descends from the

. Her maternal grandfather, Robert John Grote Mayor, was the brother of English novelist F. M. Mayor and a greatnephew of philosopher and clergyman

John Grote John Grote (5 May 1813, Beckenham – 21 August 1866, Trumpington, Cambridgeshire) was an English moral philosopher and Anglican clergyman. Life and career The son of a banker, John Grote was younger brother to the historian, philosopher and ...

. Her maternal grandmother, Katherine Beatrice Meinertzhagen, was the sister of soldier

Richard Meinertzhagen Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and ...

and the niece of author

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

. She is the sister of

Amschel Mayor James Rothschild Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (18 April 1955 – 8 July 1996) was a British businessman who was the executive chairman of Rothschild Asset Management of the Rothschild banking family of England. Early years and kinships Rothschild was born in ...

and the half-sister of

Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, (born 29 April 1936) is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family. Now mostly retired, he has held many important roles in business, finance ...

. At the age of 15, she became the youngest woman ever admitted to

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, I ...

University, from which she graduated with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1967. She was a

Kennedy Scholar Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

(MIT).

Professorships

From 1978 to 1988, she was an associate professor at MIT in the Department of Humanities and the Program on Science, Technology, and Society and also taught at the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate '' grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. Th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She then was a Fellow at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, and continues to be an honorary Professor of History and Economics at the Cambridge History faculty.

Academic achievements, awards and honours

In recognition of her services to Britain's international cultural and academic relations, Rothschild was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the New Year Honours 2000. She was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2002. She is a fellow of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Ma ...

. She is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford.

Personal life

In 1991, Rothschild married the Indian economist and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, economi ...

Publications

She has written extensively on economic history and the history of economic thought. Some of her publications are: * ''Paradise Lost: The Decline of the Auto-Industrial Age'' (1973) * '' Common Security and Civil Society in Africa'' (1999) (Co-Editor) * ''Economic Sentiments: Adam Smith, Condorcet and the Enlightenment'' (2001) * ''Language and Empire, circa 1800'' (Historical Research, 2005) * ''A Horrible Tragedy in the French Atlantic'' (Past and Present) (2006) * ''The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-Century History'' (2011) * ‘’An Infinite History. The Story of a Family in France over Three Centuries'’ (2021)

References

External links

Curriculum Vitae, Emma Rothschild, Cambridge University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Emma Georgina 1948 births Living people English people of Jewish descent Economic historians English historians English economists British women economists Harvard University faculty Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Kennedy Scholarships Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Emma Georgina Daughters of barons Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford British women historians Members of the American Philosophical Society