Lionel de Rothschild

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (Baron Lionel de Rothschild, born November 22, 1808 in London, † June 3, 1879 ibid ) was a British banker and politician. He was the first Jewish member ( or first unbaptized Jew ) of the British House of Commons. The eldest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Hanna Barent Cohen came from the Rothschild family.

Although he had already in 1847 won the first election to the Parliament, however, could take his seat until 1858. Since by then the oath of office, he had to swear, explicitly referred to the Christian religion, a long procedure was necessary to change the legislation so that he could enter parliament.

As one of four MPs for the City of London in 1847, he won election to the House of Commons. At this time, Jews were still impossible to sit in Parliament because of the oath of office was explicitly Christian. The Liberal Prime Minister John Russell brought the Jewish Disabilities Bill to parliament to change the oath. The House of Commons adopted the law in 1848, the House of Lords refused but twice from. 1849 the House of Lords rejected the law from again. To strengthen his position, Rothschild went to and won the scheduled election.

In 1850 he took his seat for the first time in the House of Commons. He refused to swear on the Bible; his request for a Old Testament was fulfilled. But when he, the words " upon the true faith of a Christian " left out, he was expelled from the chamber.

Another Jewish Disabilities Bill 1851 failed in the House of Lords. 1852 Rothschild won the election again in London in 1853 but failed the next law that would have allowed him to take his seat in parliament. Only in 1858 did the House of Lords on a proposal that each house of Parliament were to decide their own oath. How Rothschild could take his seat on July 26, 1858 at last, as he was able to skip the specifically Christian parts of the oath.

In 1836 he married Charlotte de Rothschild, the daughter of Carl Mayer von Rothschild. The marriage produced four children, his son Nathan Mayer later became the first Jewish member of the House of Lords.

His horse " Sir Bevys " won the 1879 Epsom Derby. His grave is on the Willesden Jewish Cemetery in North London suburb of Willesden.