Maurice Ephrussi (first from left) with M. du Bos, Siegfried Lehndorff and Georg von Lehndorff as members of a referee committee at a horse-racing track in Baden-Baden in 1902
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2015)
With his older brother, Michel Ephrussi, Maurice co-founded a branch of Ephrussi & Co. in Paris, France.
Equestrian interests
Maurice Ephrussi and his brother Michel were both involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing. Maurice owned Haras du Gazon, a breeding farm in Bazoches-au-Houlme, Orne, Normandy where he bred the outstanding runner and champion sire, Perth.[1] Perth's sire was the Ephrussi stallion War Dance who also sired the brilliant filly Roxelane.[2]
In the 1860s, Maurice Ephrussi had acquired Château de Reux near Reux, Calvados, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northeast of Haras du Gazon.
Horses raced by Maurice Ephrussi won a number of important races in France and England, including the
The marriage quickly turned to disaster for Béatrice, as she caught syphilis from Maurice which prevented her from having children. Maurice was a big gambler and in 1904 his debts amounted to more than 12 million gold francs, the equivalent of 30 million euros today. Worried about the future, the Rothschild family decided to take Maurice to court to demand a separation. They won the case and, in June 1904, after 21 years of marriage, Béatrice de Rothschild and Maurice Ephrussi were separated.