Maison Gradis
Item
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Country
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FR
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Name of institution (English)
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The National Archives (Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site)
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Language of name of institution
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fra
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Contact information: postal address
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59 rue Guynemer, 93380 Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
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Contact information: phone number
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0033 (0)175472002
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Contact information: email
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contact.archives-nationales@culture.gouv.fr
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Reference number
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181AQ/2 to 181AQ/194
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (English)
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Gradis family
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Title (official language of the state)
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Maison Gradis
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Language of title
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fra
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Creator / accumulator
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Gradis family
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Date(s)
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1551/2014
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Language(s)
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fra
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Extent
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606 storage units
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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The Maison Gradis collection comprises documentation related to this Sephardic family and its relatives from the 16th century. The Gradis were a family of Portuguese origin that settled in Bordeaux in the late 17th century. The fonds includes letters, memories, and miscellaneous records, as well as documentation from commercial companies founded or managed by the Gradis family and agents, among others.
The fond is divided into three subcollections. The main collection, called "Registres" (records), includes documentation on "Comptabilité commerciale" (Commercial accounting) (1724-1921), "Comptabilité familiale" (Family accounting) (1821-1902), "Registres de copies de lettres commerciales" (Registers of copies of business letters) (1748-1895), and other documents related to 20th-century institutions and businesses, namely the Société française pour le commerce avec les colonies et l'étranger, the Société française pour le commerce avec les colonies et l'étranger and the Société française pour le commerce avec l'outre-mer. The second subcollection contains the "Atlas Historique" (Historical Atlas) by Félix Ansart (1838) and the "Tableau généalogique: De Diego Gradis né au XVIIe siècle à Diego Gradis né le 1er juillet 1955" (Genealogical table: From Diego Gradis born in the 17th century to Diego Gradis born on July 1, 1955) (1977). The third subcollection contains documentation on different affairs, organised by family members or types of documents, from the 17th century to the 20th century.
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Archival history
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Since the 18th century, the Gradis showed concern about keeping their family history, as an article on the origins of the family written by David II Gradis (1742-1811) suggests. As to the archive, the existence of a family deposit dates back to the 19th century. Since then, numerous historians have worked on the history of the Jews of Bordeaux and the Bordeaux trade quoting documents from this private collection.
The current collection does not represent the entire original archives of the Gradis family, since part of the documentation disappeared before World War I. Conversely, over the 20th century, the successive owners of the family collection added their own papers, as well as documents from their ancestors. As a result, five supplements were added to the initial collection.
On August 6, 1941, the archives of the Gradis family were classified as historical archives by order of the Ministère de l'Instruction Publique et des Beaux-arts (Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts). From the 1960s, the collection's owner authorised the microfilming of the documentation by the Departmental Archives of Gironde and, later, the National Archives.
On July 7, 2005, Henri II Gradis (1920-) donated to the National Archives all the old documentation of the Gradis family that he had in his possession. The donation covered documents that belonged to the oldest archives of the Gradis family, which were still kept by the family members.
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(source: Archives Nationales: Salle des inventaires virtuelles)
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Gradis were a Sephardic family of Portuguese origin that moved to Bordeaux in the late 17th century. In 1685, David Gradis (1665? -1751) founded a trading company in Bordeaux, which, in 1728, took the name of "David Gradis et fils" (David Gradis and Sons). The company had trading relations with Holland and England and created trading posts in Saint-Domingue and Martinique. In 1731, David Gradis was made a citizen of Bordeaux.
The longevity of the Gradis house is based on the succession of its heads of family, among them, Moïse Gradis (1737-1825), Benjamin Gradis (1789-1858), Henri Gradis (1823-1905), Raoul Gradis (1861-1943), Gaston Gradis (1889-1968), Jean Schwob d'Héricourt (1900-80), and Henri II Gradis (born in 1920), succeeded by his son Diégo II Gradis (born in 1955).
In 1921, Maison Gradis (Gradis company) took the name of Société française pour le commerce avec les colonies et l’étranger (French Society for Trade with the Colonies and Abroad) (SFCCE) and later, in 1957, of Société française pour le commerce avec l’outre-mer (French Society for Trade with Overseas). The Company had commercial relations with Canada, Saint-Domingue, and, above all, Martinique, where the Gradis family was engaged in the production and commerce of sugar.
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Sources:
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Henokiens association website
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Archives Nationales: Salle des inventaires virtuelles
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Archives Nationales: Salle des inventaires virtuelles
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System of arrangement
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The archives are organised either by types of documents, institutions, or family members. Series are arranged chronologically.
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Existence and location of copies
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Microfilms available in:
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Archives départementales de la Gironde: archives familiales et commerciales de la famille Gradis, XVIIe-XXe siècles (1 Mi 104-1587)
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Archives nationales du monde du travail: registres de copies de lettres de 1748 à 1809 (598 Mi 1 à 8), livres-journaux et brouillards de 1724 à l'an XIII (599 Mi 1 à 21).
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Author of the description
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Kevin Soares, 2023
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Bibliography
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Blamont, Jacques. 2000. Le Lion et Le Moucheron. Paris: Odile Jacob.
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Bonnault, Claude de. 1945. “Les Archives de la famille Gradis et Canada.” In Report of the Archivist of the province of Quebec (1944-1945), 267–306. Quebec: Imprimeur du roi. http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/.
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Bonnault, Claude de. 1959. “Correspondance commerciale d’Abraham Gradis pour 1757.” In Report of the Archivist of the province of Quebec (1957-1959), 1–52. Quebec: Imprimeur du roi.
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Cahen, Abraham. 1882. “Les Juifs dans les colonies françaises au XVIIIe siècle.” Revue des études juives 4 (7): 127–45.
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Cahen, Abraham. 1882. “Les Juifs dans les colonies françaises au XVIIIe siècle.” Revue des études juives 4 (7): 127–45. https://www.persee.fr/doc/rjuiv_0484-8616_1882_num_4_7_3278.
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Cavignac, Jean. 1992. Les Israélites bordelais de 1780 à 1850: autour de l’émancipation. Paris: Publisud.
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Cirot, Georges. 2017. Les Juifs de Bordeaux, Leur Situation Morale et Sociale de 1550 à La Révolution. London: Forgotten Books.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (David).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:889. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis.” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:888. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (Abraham).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:888. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (Benjamin).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:888–89. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (Benjamin).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:889. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (Henri-Moïse).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:890. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Dahan, G. 1985. “Gradis (David).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:889–90. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Detcheverry, Arnaud. 1850. Histoire Des Israélites de Bordeaux. Bordeaux: Balarac jeune.
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Héricourt, Jean Schwob d’. 1975. La Maison Gradis, de Bordeaux, et Ses Chefs. Argenteuil: Mabilat.
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Léon, Henry. 2016. Histoire des juifs de Bayonne. Paris: Cairn.
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Maupassant, Jean de. 1917. Un Grand Armateur De Bordeaux, Abraham Gradis (1699?-1780). Bordeaux: Feret et Fils.
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Menkis, Richard. 1988. “The Gradis Family of Eighteenth-Century Bordeaux: A Social and Economic Study.” PhD dissertation, Waltham: Brandeis University.
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Morembert, T. de. 1985. “Gradis (Raoul).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:890. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Morembert, T. de. 1985. “Gradis (Gaston).” In Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, M. Prevost, Roman d’Amat and H. Tribout de Morembert, XVI:890. Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané.
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Seillan, Aude. 2014. “David II Gradis (1742-1811) et Son Entourage: Écritures Édition Critique et Commentaire.” Master Thesis, Paris: École Nationale des chartes.
