De Rothschild, Baroness With Flair, Dies At 65

Baroness Marie-Helene de Rothschild, a glamorous socialite known for her opulent charity benefits and creative theme balls, has died.

The baroness, who suffered from an incurable arthritic disease for more than 30 years, died March 1 at her home north of Paris. She was 65.

A funeral Mass was held at the Saint-Louis-en-l’Ile church Wednesday, followed by burial in the family plot in Touques, in Normandy.

Paris-Match magazine described her as lively, imaginative, extroverted and generous, a woman whose name was nothing short of the “password among the Tout-Paris.”

A friend to artists, musicians, fashion designers and movie stars, she was known for the sumptuous and original theme balls and charity benefits she organized in Paris and New York.

One of her greatest successes was an evening devoted to Marcel Proust in 1971. Guests came dressed in costumes inspired by his famous novel, “Remembrance of Things Past.”

Among the frequent guests to her home on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris were Rudolf Nureyev, the Dutchess of Windsor, the Kissingers and the Reagans, Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Salvador Dali, Yves Saint-Laurent and President Jacques Chirac.

De Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Egmont van Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, a Dutch diplomat. Her mother was Egyptian. She was educated at Marymount College in New York.

She married Guy de Rothschild, head of the millionaire banking family, in 1957. It was the second marriage for both.