Mayer Carl Freiherr von Rothschild (5 August 1820 – 16 October 1886) was a German Jewish banker and politician, as well as scion of the Rothschild family.Born in Frankfurt to Adelheid (née Herz) and Carl Mayer von Rothschild, he studied law at the University of Göttingen and the University of Berlin before joining the family banking firm in Frankfurt.
Following the deaths of his father and uncle (Amschel Mayer Rothschild), Mayer Carl and his brother Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild became heads of the firm.
He married Louise von Rothschild in 1842.
The couple had seven daughters:
Adèle von Rothschild (1843–1922), married to Salomon James de Rothschild (1835–1864) in 1862
Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844–1935), married to Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1840–1915) in 1867
Clementine Henriette von Rothschild (1845–1865)
Thérèse von Rothschild (1847–1931), married to James Edouard de Rothschild (1844–1881) in 1871
Hannah Luise von Rothschild (1850–1892)
Marguerite de Rothschild (1855–1905), married to Antoine Alfred Agénor de Gramont, 11th Duke of Gramont (1851–1925) in 1878
Bertha Clara von Rothschild (1862–1903), married to Louis Philippe Marie Alexandre Berthier, 3rd Prince of Wagram (1836–1911) in 1882In 1871, Rothschild became the first Jewish member of the House of Lords of Prussia.