Jacqueline Piatigorsky
Encyclopedia
Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild (born November 6, 1911) is a French
-American
chess
and tennis
champion, author
, sculptor and a member of the Rothschild banking family of France
. The daughter of the enormously wealthy and influential banker, Édouard Alphonse de Rothschild
, and Germaine Alice Halphen, she is the sister of Guy de Rothschild
and Bethsabée de Rothschild
. She was born in Paris, France.
De Rothschild was raised in the Château de Ferrières
in the country in Île-de-France
and at a home in the city in what is known as the "Talleyrand Building," a mansion at 2 rue Saint-Florentin that today is part of the United States Embassy complex in Paris
. According to her 1988 memoir, Jump in the Waves, her parents were cold and distant and left her upbringing to an indifferent nanny
. As a result, she grew into a timid, near-reclusive, young woman who at age nineteen married publisher Robert Calmann-Levy (1899–1982), a distant relative. The marriage ended after five years in 1935 and two years later she married the renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky
. Their daughter Jephta was born in France in 1937 but the family had to flee the country in the wake of the Nazi occupation during World War II
. De Rothschild and her husband settled in Elizabethtown, New York
in the Adirondack Mountains
where their son Joram was born in 1940. They lived in Philadelphia for several years before moving to Los Angeles in 1949 where her husband taught at the University of Southern California
.
As an American citizen, Piatigorsky was a tennis player of note, being competitive at the national level, but her passion for the game of chess led to a second career during which she represented the United States in the first Women's Chess Olympiad
, at Emmen 1957, where she scored 7.5/11 on second board and won a bronze medal. In the 1960s, she was the highest USCF
-rated female chess player in California and ranked No. 2 in the United States. In addition to participating in the game, Piatigorsky became a sponsor and tournament organizer. In 1963 at the Ambassador Hotel she staged the first Piatigorsky Cup
http://www.endgame.nl/Piatigorsky.htm in which Tigran Petrosian
and Paul Keres
tied for first place. The California Chess Reporter called it the greatest tournament held in the United States since the 1920s. In 1966, in Santa Monica
, Boris Spassky
won the second Piatigorsky Cup Tournament with second place going to Bobby Fischer
.
Piatigorsky is also a patron of the arts and in 1985 created an endowment for the New England Conservatory of Music
to provide the "New England Conservatory/Piatigorsky Artist Award" which gave the recipient a cash prize and a series of concert engagements.
In her forties she developed an interest in sculpting
and arranged to take lessons from a professional, Anthony Amato. A Los Angeles area gallery put on the first exhibition of her works in 1976. Widowed at the age of sixty-five, she has continued working and playing tennis into her nineties. As of 2003, she was still actively sculpting and she turned 100
in November 2011.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
champion, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, sculptor and a member of the Rothschild banking family of France
Rothschild banking family of France
The Rothschild banking family of France was founded in 1812 in Paris by James Mayer Rothschild . James was sent there from his home in Frankfurt, Germany by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
. The daughter of the enormously wealthy and influential banker, Édouard Alphonse de Rothschild
Edouard Alphonse de Rothschild
Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild was a French financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France....
, and Germaine Alice Halphen, she is the sister of Guy de Rothschild
Guy de Rothschild
Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild was a French banker and member of the Rothschild family. He chaired the bank Rothschild Frères from 1967 to 1979, when it was nationalized by the French government, and maintained possessions in other French and foreign companies including Imerys...
and Bethsabée de Rothschild
Bethsabée de Rothschild
Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild Baroness Bethsabée de Rothschild (name sometimes spelled Batsheva (September 23, 1914, in London - April 20, 1999, in Tel Aviv, Israel) was a philanthropist, a patron of dance, and member of the Rothschild banking family.-Biography:...
. She was born in Paris, France.
De Rothschild was raised in the Château de Ferrières
Château de Ferrières
Château de Ferrières is a French château built between 1855 and 1859 by Baron James de Rothschild in the Goût Rothschild. Rothschild ownership of the Château de Ferrières was passed down through the male line according to the rule of primogeniture...
in the country in Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
and at a home in the city in what is known as the "Talleyrand Building," a mansion at 2 rue Saint-Florentin that today is part of the United States Embassy complex in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. According to her 1988 memoir, Jump in the Waves, her parents were cold and distant and left her upbringing to an indifferent nanny
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
. As a result, she grew into a timid, near-reclusive, young woman who at age nineteen married publisher Robert Calmann-Levy (1899–1982), a distant relative. The marriage ended after five years in 1935 and two years later she married the renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
. Their daughter Jephta was born in France in 1937 but the family had to flee the country in the wake of the Nazi occupation during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. De Rothschild and her husband settled in Elizabethtown, New York
Elizabethtown, New York
Elizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,315 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Essex County is a hamlet also called Elizabethtown. The name is derived from Elizabeth Gilliland, the wife of an early settler....
in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
where their son Joram was born in 1940. They lived in Philadelphia for several years before moving to Los Angeles in 1949 where her husband taught at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
As an American citizen, Piatigorsky was a tennis player of note, being competitive at the national level, but her passion for the game of chess led to a second career during which she represented the United States in the first Women's Chess Olympiad
Women's Chess Olympiad
The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE since 1957 , where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals....
, at Emmen 1957, where she scored 7.5/11 on second board and won a bronze medal. In the 1960s, she was the highest USCF
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
-rated female chess player in California and ranked No. 2 in the United States. In addition to participating in the game, Piatigorsky became a sponsor and tournament organizer. In 1963 at the Ambassador Hotel she staged the first Piatigorsky Cup
Piatigorsky Cup
The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups were the strongest U.S. chess tournaments since New...
http://www.endgame.nl/Piatigorsky.htm in which Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
and Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
tied for first place. The California Chess Reporter called it the greatest tournament held in the United States since the 1920s. In 1966, in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
won the second Piatigorsky Cup Tournament with second place going to Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
.
Piatigorsky is also a patron of the arts and in 1985 created an endowment for the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
to provide the "New England Conservatory/Piatigorsky Artist Award" which gave the recipient a cash prize and a series of concert engagements.
In her forties she developed an interest in sculpting
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and arranged to take lessons from a professional, Anthony Amato. A Los Angeles area gallery put on the first exhibition of her works in 1976. Widowed at the age of sixty-five, she has continued working and playing tennis into her nineties. As of 2003, she was still actively sculpting and she turned 100
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
in November 2011.