La Bensaudiere

Rue Raoul Bensaude

June 18th, 2007

Une excellente source interne m’informe à l’instant que le 28 Juin à Ponta Delgada sera inaugurée une rue nommée en l’honneur de mon arrière grand-père Raoul Bensaude.

Membre de la famille, Raoul Bensaude est aussi et surtout un illustre médecin. On lui doit l’invention d’un traitement des hémorroides par des injections sclérosantes faites sous la muqueuse, au-dessus des hémorroides – c’est la fameuse méthode de Bensaude.

C’est également Raoul Bensaude qui en 1896 avec Emile Charles Achard a isolaté le bacille paratyphoide et inauguré l’appelation de fièvre paratyphoide. Ces découvertes sont relatées par Emile Achard et Raoul Bensaude dans l’article “Infections paratyphoïdiques” publié dans le “Bull Soc méd Hôp” de Paris.

Si vous avez des photos de cet évènement familial, n’hésitez pas à nous les transmettre pour que je les publies ici !

Une adresse de messagerie pour parler à la Bensaudière

June 18th, 2007

bensaudiere@bensaude.org est une liste de diffusion (surtout) et de discussion (accessoirement) pour tous ceux qui ont leur place autour de la Bensaudière. C’est plus pratique que de maintenir une liste d’adresses chacun dans son coin. Ce sera très utile pour annoncer les évènements.

Les inscription à la liste sont modérées par mes soins. La liste des abonnés ainsi que les archives sont privés et seuls les abonnés peuvent diffuser des messages. Si vous revendiquez votre place autour de la Bensaudière n’hésitez pas à vous inscrire pour être tenu au courant !

Si vous avez des adresses à ajouter vous pouvez aussi me les transmettre.

Welcome to Justine Bensaude

March 13th, 2007

Thanks to Fabrice and Céline we have a brand new Bensaude among us. Welcome Justine Bensaude !

Anne-Cécile et Olivier : les photos du mariage

February 24th, 2007

De magnifiques photos vous attendent dans la galerie des photos du mariage d’Anne-Cécile et Olivier !

Vous y trouverez même des photos de leur voyage de noces en Afrique du Sud !

Anne-Cécile has married Olivier

October 14th, 2006

Everyone gathered in Garches today to celebrate the wedding of Anne-Cécile to Olivier. After the civil ceremony in the same town hall of Garches where Anne-Cécile‘s parents Agnès and Claude got married, Catholic mass took place in the Saint-Louis church of Garches, where Véronique and François and also Marie-Christine and Michel lived the same moments a generation ago. Now, that is tradition !

Afterwards everyone headed for the Hotel De France in Versailles where a nice party took place late into the night.

On behalf of all Bensaudes I wish the newlyweds a lifelong familly happiness !

Pauline et Emma dans la piscine

August 10th, 2006

Emma a emmené Aline et Anthea rendre visite à Pauline et Jean-Marc aux résidences du port. Tout le monde dans la piscine !

Bensaude onion dip

June 6th, 2006

To cover the tip of my vegetables in creamy goodness I accept no substitute. Since I enjoy it so much I asked Véronique for the recipe, and unlike the secret Picklefleisch recipe this one has been cleared for public release… So here it is, just in time for the summer.

In a bowl, blend the following ingredients :

  • 500 g low-fat white cheese.
  • One small pot of creme fraiche.
  • One 4 servings bag of instant onion soup with no croutons.

Cover with a plastic microwave foil and store in the fridge. Add a pinch of paprika just before putting on the table. Do not keep more than two days. Enjoy !

Pictures of The Bensaudiere 2005

December 23rd, 2005

The usual Bensaudes plus the new additions and even more kids, my favorite almond cake and enough Picklefleisch to feed that army… The Bensaudière was once again a success ! For your viewing pleasure to relive these moments and for memory’s sake here are a few lovely pictures of the event

Jose Bensaude’s grave in the jewish cemetary of Sao Miguel

December 22nd, 2005

Jose Bensaude‘s grave lies in the jewish cemetary of Sao Miguel. This is one of several Jewish cemeteries in the Azores.

In 1936, the cemetery had 133 graves of which 105 names are listed in “Benditcha Sea Vuestra Memoria: Sephardic Jewish Cemeteries in the Caribbean and Eastern North America” by David Mayer Gradwohl. This 29 pages paper is available from the Association for Gravestone Studies. The names are also mentioned in the “Genealogia Hebraica. Portugal e Gibraltar” by Jose Maria Abecassis (ISBN 9729542902).

The International Survey of Jewish Monuments mentions that “the cemetery is at the present time [2000] surrounded by factory buildings and shut out from sight by a wall. The monuments are situated horizontally. It suffers from neglect. Crosses mark some of the graves, a well-known island practice, which purported to serve to keep anti-Jewish rhetoric muted.”

Jose Bensaude's grave in the jewish cemetery of Sao Miguel in the Azores

Factual errors in the Genealogia Hebraica

December 22nd, 2005

Having seen it mentioned as a source all over the place, I was very excited about the “Genealogia Hebraica. Portugal e Gibraltar” by Jose Maria Abecassis (ISBN 9729542902).

A few weeks ago I found that Claude Bensaude had taken a look at it. His opinion of Abecassis’ work is very low. Horrified by the amount of imprecisions and factual errors he told me he began annotating the book with corrections, but after a dozen pages he gave up discouraged by the amount of corrections needed.

So if you wish to use the Genealogia Hebraica as a source for your genealogical research, be sure to cross it with other independant sources and take it with a grain of salt.

La véritable Bensaudière est en ligne

December 21st, 2005

Publié annuellement à l’occasion de la grande réunion de Noel, le produit de l’organe de presse officiel de la famille Bensaude s’est nommée ‘la Bensaudière’ bien avant que ce site n’existe. Pour que tous ceux qui n’ont pas pu le lire chez Manette le jour de sa sortie rattrapent enfin leur retard sur l’actualité familiale, voici disponible ici pour votre plus grand plaisir la Bensaudière 2005. Cette année encore La Bensaudière est l’oeuvre Dessirier, mais c’est François qui a repris le flambeau allumé par Aline…

Bensaude Millenium – Pictures are now online

December 19th, 2005

From the 23rd of July to 3rd of August 2000, descendants of Jose Bensaude met in the Azores. Fond photographic memories of the event have been gathered on a lovely blue compact disc… They are now online for your viewing pleasure, complete with the original captioning !

Bibliographie Bensaude

November 2nd, 2005

Voici les deux ouvrages de référence cités partout et qui contiennent des informations sur la généalogie Bensaude :

  • Jose Maria Abecassis – “Genealogia Hebraica. Portugal e Gibraltar” (ISBN 9729542902). Lisboa 1990. Arbres généalogiques du XVII au XX siècle. Quatre des cinq volumes sont disponibles à la bibliothèque du Congrès à Washington. La famille Bensaude est présentée dans le volume II aux alentours de la page 248.
  • Abraham Laredo – “Les Noms des Juifs du Maroc: Essai d’onomastique judéo-marocaine” (ISBN 8400043170). Institut B. Arias Montano, Madrid, 1978. 1161 pages. Epuisé.

Je serais vraiment curieux de mettre la main dessus, ou à défaut sur une copie des pages concernant les Bensaude. Pour commencer, il me faut identifier des bibliothèques qui les possèdent et m’éviteront le déplacement à Washington…

A part ça, au sujet de la généalogie sépharade il semble que Sephardic Genealogy par Jeff Malka est un ouvrage de référence apprécié.

Bensaude history in the Azores

November 1st, 2005

The Bensaude Millenum meet-up was the chance to listen to a nice university lecture about Bensaude history in the Azores. For those who missed it, here is a small summary found in an interview of Jorge Delmar by Myrna and Harvey Frommer featuring Fatima Sequeira Dias who if I remember well is the speaker we had the pleasure of listening to :

[..] in 1818 [..] the Bensaude family of Morocco came to this volcanic archipelago [..] seeing opportunity in its developing orange-growing industry. They made their fortune trading agricultural products for manufactured goods with England and trading bills of exchange while transporting emigrants to Brazil. In the process, according to Fatima Sequeira Dias, Professor of Economic History at the University of the Azores, they changed the nature of the Azorean economy.

“The Bensaudes had the trade connections that enabled them to link England, Brazil, and Newfoundland with the Azores,” she says. “When they got into the bill of exchange business, that was the beginning of banking in the Azores.” This single Jewish family, she maintains, succeeded in integrating the islands’ economy, establishing a chain of retailers throughout the archipelago who offered imported goods on easy terms, and developing its maritime transport industry. Today a financial empire with international interests, the Bensaudes continue to be the Azores’ chief economic entity. But they are no longer Jewish. Fearful of a Nazis occupation of Portugal, most converted during the Second World War. Vasco Bensaude, the last Jew of the dynasty, died some twenty years ago.

That reminds me that the two following papers by Fatima Sequeira Dias contain rich insights into Bensaude history in the Azores :

  • Uma estratégia de sucesso numa economia periférica: a casa Bensaúde e os Açores, 1800-1873, Ponta Delgada, 1993;
  • A Fábrica de Tabaco Micaelense: 1866-1995, Ponta Delgada, Fábrica de Tabaco Micaelense, 1995;

Bensaudes in Morocco

November 1st, 2005

Searching the Essaouira (formerly Mogador) cemetery records for ‘Bensaude’ yielded the following matches :

Family name  Name           Gender  Birth  Death date
Bensaude     Jais           M       1871   11/09/1929
Bensaude     Rebbeca Ohana  W       1873   16/07/1946

Tombstone of Jais BensaudeTombstone of Rebeca Bensaude

I have no idea who they are nor any knowledge of their contemporary Moroccan Bensaudes. Neither are the people bearing the name of Hassiboni mentioned in these cemetary records. It seems that there is still in Morocco some of genealogical information that we have not yet found…

Jeff Malka from Sephardic Genealogy Resources has put together a short startup guide to Jewish Genealogy in Morocco. Lack of records makes it a tricky field of investigation, but I am sure there are plenty of discoveries to be made. Have fun, and don’t forget to keep us informed about what you find !

Bensaudes in America

November 1st, 2005

Searching the Ellis Island records for ‘Bensaude’ yielded the following matches :

Name of Passenger	Residence  	Arrival Birth
Jacob Bensaude  	 	  	1894  	1834
Jose Bensaude  	  	Lisboa, Port. 	1916  	1893
Jose Bensaude  	  	Lisbon, Port. 	1920  	1893
M. Bensaude  	  	  	  	1894  	1865
Maria Bensaude	  	Lisbon, Port.  	1920  	1899
Mathilde Bensaude  	Lisboa, Port.  	1920  	1890
Mrs. M. Bensaude  	  		1894  	1872

Among them, Mathilde Bensaude matches very well the data I already have. The “M. Bensaude” born in 1865 may be the unknown Hiam Bensaude that I found in the 1881 British census. The others look like no-one already identified… Your help is welcome.

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