November 30, 1988

Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (December 10, 1913 to November 30, 1988) was called Nica by her friends.This represetative of the Rothschild family is famous for her patronage of jazz musicians, of whom the most famous was Thelonious Monk (October 10, 1917 to February 17, 1982). There is a recent book about her: The Baroness - The Search for Nica the Rebellious Rothschild, authored by Hannah Rothschild, (2012).  Here is an excerpt:

.... In 1958 [she bought a house that had] belonged to Josef von Sternberg, Marlene Dietrich's director, who was moving to California. Kingswood Road is an ordinary suburban street in Weehawken, New Jersey, but number 63 has one of the most stunning urban views in the United States. Poised on a hill, it looks across the Hudson river to Manhattan's West Side and out towards the George Washington Bridge. Compared to the Rothschild properties Nica had known since birth, her new house was a modest affair: three boxy rooms stacked one on top of the other.....Nica's house heaved with cats. The animals made a huge impression on Thelonious's son Toot. 'The house became this sanctuary for cats and there would be cats in every cupboard. There would be cats in the basement. There would be cats in the garage; there would be cats on the roof. We had a deal where I would count the cats and she would give me 50 cents. I remember I once counted I think it was 306. That was the most I ever counted.' Nica treated her cats rather like anyone else, being tolerant and welcoming but having her favourites in both human and feline form. Only the special cats, about 40 in all, were allowed in her bedroom and she built barriers in flexi-glass to keep the riff-raff out. The producer Ira Gitler, a frequent visitor, remembered that the only place Nica's feline friends weren't allowed was the Bentley. Nica had a fence built around it so the cats could not scratch the paintwork or the leather seats.