Baron Edmond de Rothschild

Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, the youngest son of James de Rothschild of the Paris banking house, was born in 1845. From 1882, persuaded by Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever and Yosef Feinberg of Rishon LeZion, he rescued the failing moshavot of the First Aliyah, paying for land, wells, houses and agronomists, and founding or supporting Rishon LeZion, Zikhron Ya'akov (named after his father Yaakov), Rosh Pinna and Mazkeret Batya (after his mother Betty). He built the wine cellars of Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya'akov and introduced vineyards and new crops. In 1900 he handed his colonies to the Jewish Colonization Association, and in 1924 he founded PICA to continue the work. He visited the land five times, the first in 1887, and was known as HaNadiv HaYadua, "the well-known benefactor".

His officials' strict control angered many settlers, but without him the first moshavot would probably not have survived. He died in Paris in 1934; in 1954 his remains and those of his wife Adelaide were reburied at Ramat HaNadiv near Zikhron Ya'akov.