Baron James de Rothschild, a member of the British banking family who had, however, devoted himself to the production of the world-famous Rothschild wines, has died at the age of 88, it was announced here today.
Baron James, as he was generally known, was a combat pilot with the French Air Force during World War I. He joined Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s forces in London in 1940 after the Nazis occupied France and was appointed Chief of Staff of the Free French Air Force with the rank of full Colonel. He was an officer in the French Legion of Honor and was awarded the Military Cross and a number of British and Allied medals for his wartime service.
Baron James never took any interest in the family bank or other family financial activities and spent most of his life raising race horses and producing the famous Bordeaux wine bearing his family name. In 1970 he created somewhat of a scandal when he married a movie theater usherette who was 26 years old at the time.
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