The Batsheva de Rothschild Fund was established to advance science in Israel for the people of Israel. The fund was designed to be uniquely flexible and proactive, constantly shifting areas of priority to meet the emerging needs of Israeli science. Years of activity: 1963-2022
The Batsheva de Rothschild Fund simultaneously operated three separate grant programs, simultaneously supporting seminars in cutting-edge areas of science, interdisciplinary workshops, and fellowships for leading experts from abroad to visit Israel. In addition, the Aharon and Ephraim Katzir Study Grants Program, also funded by the Batsheva de Rothschild Fund, offered travel grants to research students conducting collaborative research at leading laboratories around the world. A panel of advisors under the auspices of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities guided the fund’s scientific activity throughout its operation.
Comprehensive List of Batsheva de Rothschild Fund Awardees, 1963- 2022
Historic Background
Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild (1914-1999) was a biologist, trained at the Sorbonne, Paris and at Columbia University, New York. She worked for a while at the Pasteur Institute, Paris. During World War II, she joined the Free French Movement at its office in New York and volunteered for its armed forces. Assigned to London, she landed in Normandy during the Allied invasion, eventually reaching Paris, where she served as liaison between the French and the United States military forces.
As a frequent visitor to the young State of Israel in the 1950s, she met with Prof. Ephraim Katzir of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Alex Keynan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who convinced her of the acute need to support basic research in Israel. She established the fund bearing her name, which she personally headed with great devotion until her last days.
Following Operation "Kadesh" (the Sinai Campaign), at the end of 1956, Batsheva de Rothschild became the only member of her legendary family to settle in Israel and became active in public life. In 1989 she was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for her many contributions to Israeli society, among them the founding of Israel’s Batsheva and Bat Dor Dance Companies.
The Batsheva de Rothschild Fund was established as a private endowment fund, originally in 1958 in New York City and thereafter in 1965 in Israel. In 1993 Batsheva de Rothschild generously transferred the fund to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.