"Nica" was the youngest daughter of Charles Rothschild and his wife, Hungarian baroness Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein, daughter of Baron Alfred von Wertheimstein of Transylvania. She was born into one of the weathiest families in the world at that time.
She married French diplomat Baron Jules de Koenigswarter in 1935. They lived in Chateaux de Abondant near Normandy, France. She was a pilot who fought for the French Resistance for Charles DeGaulle in North Africa. She and Jules had five children.
There are different versions of how she came to love jazz. Some say that she heard Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight and fell in love with his music. She left her husband and children, and bought a house in New York, where she became known as the "Jazz Baroness". She was close friends to many jazz muscians during the 1950s, including Monk, and Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey - and obscure..
Several songs were written for her, including Gigi Gryce's "Nica's Tempo", Sonny Clark's "Nica", Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", Kenny Dorham's "Tonica", Kenny Drew's "Blues for Nica", Freddie Redd's "Nica Steps Out", Barry Harris's "Inca", Tommy Flanagan's "Thelonica" and Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" were all named after her.
Nica requested that her children scatter her ashes over the Hudson River "round midnight".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw
She married French diplomat Baron Jules de Koenigswarter in 1935. They lived in Chateaux de Abondant near Normandy, France. She was a pilot who fought for the French Resistance for Charles DeGaulle in North Africa. She and Jules had five children.
There are different versions of how she came to love jazz. Some say that she heard Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight and fell in love with his music. She left her husband and children, and bought a house in New York, where she became known as the "Jazz Baroness". She was close friends to many jazz muscians during the 1950s, including Monk, and Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey - and obscure..
Several songs were written for her, including Gigi Gryce's "Nica's Tempo", Sonny Clark's "Nica", Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", Kenny Dorham's "Tonica", Kenny Drew's "Blues for Nica", Freddie Redd's "Nica Steps Out", Barry Harris's "Inca", Tommy Flanagan's "Thelonica" and Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" were all named after her.
Nica requested that her children scatter her ashes over the Hudson River "round midnight".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw
"Nica" was the youngest daughter of Charles Rothschild and his wife, Hungarian baroness Rozsika Edle von Wertheimstein, daughter of Baron Alfred von Wertheimstein of Transylvania. She was born into one of the weathiest families in the world at that time.
She married French diplomat Baron Jules de Koenigswarter in 1935. They lived in Chateaux de Abondant near Normandy, France. She was a pilot who fought for the French Resistance for Charles DeGaulle in North Africa. She and Jules had five children.
There are different versions of how she came to love jazz. Some say that she heard Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight and fell in love with his music. She left her husband and children, and bought a house in New York, where she became known as the "Jazz Baroness". She was close friends to many jazz muscians during the 1950s, including Monk, and Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey - and obscure..
Several songs were written for her, including Gigi Gryce's "Nica's Tempo", Sonny Clark's "Nica", Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", Kenny Dorham's "Tonica", Kenny Drew's "Blues for Nica", Freddie Redd's "Nica Steps Out", Barry Harris's "Inca", Tommy Flanagan's "Thelonica" and Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" were all named after her.
Nica requested that her children scatter her ashes over the Hudson River "round midnight".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw
She married French diplomat Baron Jules de Koenigswarter in 1935. They lived in Chateaux de Abondant near Normandy, France. She was a pilot who fought for the French Resistance for Charles DeGaulle in North Africa. She and Jules had five children.
There are different versions of how she came to love jazz. Some say that she heard Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight and fell in love with his music. She left her husband and children, and bought a house in New York, where she became known as the "Jazz Baroness". She was close friends to many jazz muscians during the 1950s, including Monk, and Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus and Art Blakey - and obscure..
Several songs were written for her, including Gigi Gryce's "Nica's Tempo", Sonny Clark's "Nica", Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", Kenny Dorham's "Tonica", Kenny Drew's "Blues for Nica", Freddie Redd's "Nica Steps Out", Barry Harris's "Inca", Tommy Flanagan's "Thelonica" and Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica" were all named after her.
Nica requested that her children scatter her ashes over the Hudson River "round midnight".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw
Family Members
See more de Koenigswarter or Rothschild memorials in:
- Find a Grave de Koenigswarter or Rothschild
