Jacqueline Piatigorsky

French-American chess player and artist

Jacqueline Piatigorsky

Piatigorsky in 1966

Born|

Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild

(1911-11-06)November 6, 1911

Paris, France

Died| July 15, 2012(2012-07-15) (aged 100)

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California

Nationality| French American
Spouses|

Robert Calmann-Levy

(m. 1930; div. 1935)​

Gregor Piatigorsky

(m. 1937)​

Children| Jephta Piatigorsky (b. 1937)
Joram Piatigorsky (b. 1940)
Parent(s)| Édouard de Rothschild and Germaine Alice Halphen
Relatives| Daniel B. Drachman (son-in-law)

Jacqueline Rebecca Louise Piatigorsky (née de Rothschild; November 6, 1911 – July 15, 2012) was a French-American chess player, author, sculptor, philanthropist, and arts patron.[1] She was a member of the Rothschild banking family of France.[1]

## Early life, marriages, family[edit]

The daughter of the wealthy and influential banker Édouard Alphonse de Rothschild, and Germaine Alice Halphen, she was the sister of Guy de Rothschild and Bethsabée de Rothschild.[2] 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.[2]

According to her 1988 memoir Jump in the Waves, her parents were cold and distant and left her upbringing to an indifferent nanny.[3] As a result, she grew into a timid, near-reclusive, young woman who at age 19 married publisher Robert Calmann-Lévy (1899–1982), a distant relative.[2] This marriage ended after five years in 1935, and two years later she married the renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.[1] Their daughter Jephta was born in France in 1937.

## Emigrates to U.S.[edit]

The family had to flee France in the wake of the Nazi occupation during World War II. Piatigorsky and her husband settled in a house Elizabethtown, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains which Gregor had bought before.[4] It also became the first residence in the US for her parents and her sister Bethsabee after their flight from France to the US, and it was the place where their son Joram was born in 1940.[5] They lived in Philadelphia for several years before moving to Los Angeles in 1949, where her husband taught at the University of Southern California. According to her autobiography they moved to California because the doctor had advised them to move to a better climate to stop Joram's constant colds and ear infections. Gregor Piatigorsky also favoured Los Angeles, because many of his friends such as Rubinstein, Heifetz and Stravinsky lived there.[6]

## Chess successes[edit]

As an American citizen, Piatigorsky was a chess player of note, and was competitive at the national level. Her passion for the game of chess led to a second career during which she trained seriously, with coach IM Herman Steiner. 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 was ranked #2 in the United States, competing successfully in several U.S. Women's Championships.

## Chess patron, organizer[edit]

In addition to participating in the game, Piatigorsky became an important patron and tournament organizer. She sponsored the famous 1961 match between Samuel Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer, the top two American players.[1] It was held jointly in New York City and Los Angeles, but was abandoned after 11 of the planned 16 games because of a scheduling dispute, with the score tied at 5.5 points apiece.

In 1963 at the Ambassador Hotel she staged the first Piatigorsky Cup [1] in which world champion 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; this event had an even stronger field. She served as patron for many young California players, providing funds for travel to tournaments, and organized junior tournaments in the Los Angeles area.

## Sculptor, arts patron[edit]

Piatigorsky was 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 40s, she developed an interest in sculpting, and arranged to take lessons from Anthony Amato. A Los Angeles-area gallery put on the first exhibition of her works in 1976. Widowed at the age of 65, she continued working and playing tennis into her 90s. As of 2003, she was still actively sculpting[7] and she turned 100 in November 2011.[8]

Piatigorsky died from complications of pneumonia on July 15, 2012.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Hough, Randy (July 19, 2012). "Chess Benefactor Jacqueline Piatigorsky Dies at 100". United States Chess Federation. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
2. ^ a b c Woo, Elaine (July 22, 2012). "Jacqueline Piatigorsky dies at 100; chess champion, sculptor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
3. ^ Piatigorsky, Jacqueline Rebecca (1988). Jump in the Waves - A Memoir. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312018344.
4. ^ Piatigorsky, Jacqueline (1988). Jump in the Waves A Memoir. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 128\. ISBN 0-312-01834-7.
5. ^ Piatigorsky, Jacqueline (1988). Jump in the Waves A Memoir. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 130\. ISBN 0-312-01834-7.
6. ^ Piatigorsky, Jacqueline (1988). Jumo in the Waves A Memoir. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 139\. ISBN 0-312-01834-7.
7. ^ "Growing as We Age by Jacqueline Piatigorsky".
8. ^ McClain, Dylan Loeb (2011-11-19). "Milestone for a Benefactor of Historic Matches". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-26.

* First Piatigorsky Cup International Grandmaster Chess Tournament Held in Los Angeles, California July 1963 ISBN 4-87187-843-0
* Second Piatigorsky Cup International Grandmaster Chess Tournament Held in Santa Monica, California August 1966, 1968, edited by Isaac Kashdan, ISBN 4-87187-844-9
* See also the list of references at Rothschild banking family of France.

## External links[edit]

* Selected Sculptures of Jacqueline Piatigorsky
* Jacqueline Piatigorsky at Find a Grave

* v
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* e

Rothschild

General|

* Genealogy of the Rothschild family
* Mayer Amschel Rothschild
* Amschel Mayer Rothschild
* Rothschild Mausoleum
* Rothschild Park
* Prix Rothschild
* Baron Rothschild
* Baron Rothschild (Austria)
* British Empire
* French Empire
* Austro-Hungarian Empire
* Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
* Holy See

Banking and
companies|

* Rothschild & Co
* RIT Capital Partners
* Edmond de Rothschild Group
* de Rothschild Frères
* S. M. von Rothschild
* Imerys
* Eramet
* Club Med
* Libération
* Economist Group (The Economist)
* Mouton Cadet
* Opus One Winery
* Chemins de Fer du Nord
* Vítkovice Mining and Iron Corporation
* Palestine Jewish Colonization Association
* Yad Hanadiv
* Creditanstalt
* British South Africa Company
* Rio Tinto
* De Beers
* Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company
* Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway
* Asia Resource Minerals
* Genel Energy
* Alliance Assurance

Properties|

* Rothschild properties in the Home counties
* Ascott House
* Aston Clinton House
* Champneys
* Eythrope
* Exbury Gardens
* Gunnersbury Park
* Halton House
* Mentmore Towers
* Tring Park Mansion
* Waddesdon Manor
* Spencer House
* Palais Rothschild
* Château Mouton Rothschild
* Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay
* Château Clarke
* Château de Ferrières
* Château Lafite
* Château de Laversine
* Château des Laurets
* Château de la Muette
* Château Rothschild, Boulogne-Billancourt
* Haras de Meautry
* Hôtel Lambert
* Hôtel de Marigny
* Hôtel de Pontalba
* Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild
* Talleyrand Building

England|

* Alfred de Rothschild
* Amschel Mayor James Rothschild
* Anthony Gustav de Rothschild
* Anthony James de Rothschild
* Anthony Nathan de Rothschild
* Charles Rothschild
* Charlotte Henriette de Rothschild
* David Mayer de Rothschild
* Dorothy de Rothschild
* Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
* Emma Georgina Rothschild
* Evelina de Rothschild
* Evelyn Achille de Rothschild
* Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
* Ferdinand de Rothschild
* Hannah de Rothschild, Countess of Rosebery
* Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild
* Kathleen (Nica de Koenigswarter) Rothschild
* Leopold de Rothschild
* Leopold David de Rothschild
* Lionel de Rothschild
* Lionel Nathan de Rothschild
* Lynn Forester de Rothschild
* Mayer Amschel de Rothschild
* Miriam Louisa Rothschild
* Nathaniel de Rothschild
* Nathan Mayer Rothschild
* Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild
* Nathaniel Philip Rothschild
* Nicky Hilton Rothschild
* Serena Rothschild
* Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
* Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

France|

* Alphonse James de Rothschild
* Aline Caroline de Rothschild
* Ariane de Rothschild
* Arthur de Rothschild
* Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild
* Benjamin de Rothschild
* Betty von Rothschild
* Charlotte de Rothschild
* Bethsabée de Rothschild
* David René de Rothschild
* Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild
* Edmond James de Rothschild
* Édouard Etienne de Rothschild
* Edouard Alphonse de Rothschild
* Élie de Rothschild
* Elisabeth de Rothschild
* Guy de Rothschild
* Hélène de Rothschild
* Henri de Rothschild
* Jacqueline Rebecca de Rothschild
* James Armand de Rothschild
* James Mayer de Rothschild
* Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
* Nadine de Rothschild
* Nathaniel Robert de Rothschild
* Nicole de Rothschild
* Pauline de Rothschild
* Philippe de Rothschild
* Philippine de Rothschild
* Salomon James de Rothschild
* Maurice de Rothschild
* Gustave de Rothschild
* Robert de Rothschild
* Alain de Rothschild
* Éric de Rothschild
* Marie Angliviel de la Beaumelle

Austria|

* Salomon Mayer von Rothschild
* Anselm Salomon von Rothschild
* Mathilde Hannah von Rothschild
* Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild
* Ferdinand de Rothschild
* Salomon Albert Anmselm von Rothschild
* Ludwig (Louis) von Rothschild
* Eugéne Daniel von Rothschild
* Jeanne Stuart von Rothschild
* Alice Charlotte von Rothschild

Naples|

* Charlotte von Rothschild
* Carl Mayer von Rothschild
* Mayer Carl von Rothschild
* Adelheid von Rothschild
* Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild
* Berthe von Rothschild
* Thérèse von Rothschild
* Marguerite de Rothschild
* Bina von Rothschild

* Category: Rothschild family

Authority control

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Netherlands

Other|

* SNAC

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