Hélène van Zuylen

Baroness Hélène van Zuylen van Nijevelt van de Haar or Hélène de Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, née de Rothschild (21 August 1863 – 17 October 1947) was a French author and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family. She collaborated on stories and poems with her lesbian partner Renée Vivien, sometimes under the pen name Paule Riversdale. An only child, the daughter of Salomon James de Rothschild, she was disinherited by her mother for marrying a Catholic, Baron Etienne van Zuylen of the old Dutch noble family Van Zuylen van Nievelt.

Hélène was one of a trio of French female motoring pioneers of the Belle Epoque. She entered the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris Trail, thus becoming the first woman to compete in an international motor race.

Personal life Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, the childhood home of Hélène de Rothschild. Hélène Betty Louise Caroline de Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Salomon James de Rothschild and (née Adele Hannah Charlotte de Rothschild) (the daughter of Salomon's German cousin Mayer Carl von Rothschild).

In 1907 Zuylen abruptly left Vivien for another woman, which quickly fueled gossip within the lesbian coterie of Paris. Neither had been faithful. she founded the initial Renée Vivien Prize, an annual French literary prize awarded in honour of the poet she once loved, intended to give encouragement to women poets at the beginning of their career, along with a pecuniary endowment.

She was a member of the Automobile Club féminin de France.

Nazi Occupation of France Art from van Zuylen's collection was seized by the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce Nazi looting organisation during the occupation of France in World War II.

Death Baroness Hélène van Zuylen died in Lisbon, Portugal, on 17 October 1947. Baroness Hélène van Zuylen was one of a trio of French female motoring pioneers of the Belle Epoque. She entered the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris Trail using the pseudonym Snail, thus becoming the first woman to compete in an international motor race.

Baron Etienne van Zuylen, her Dutch husband, was the President of the Automobile Club de France (A.C.F.), the main organiser of the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris Trail. Using the pseudonym Snail, Baroness van Zuylen successfully completed the Trail, thus becoming the first woman to compete in an international motor race.

In 1901 van Zuylen entered the Paris-Berlin race but was stopped by technical failure on the first day. The only other female entrant among the 122 starters was Camille du Gast, who successfully completed the event, climbing from starting last to finishing 33rd.

She was nicknamed La Brioche, and used the pseudonym Snail for motor racing whilst her husband, Baron Etienne van Zuylen, competed as Escargot (French for snail).

Kasteel de Haar

On her marriage to Baron Etienne van Zuylen the Kasteel de Haar, located near Haarzuilens in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, became her official residence. Her extensive refurbishments turned it into one of the foremost Gothic Revival castles in the Netherlands.