ALMANACH DE LA DEPECHE 1935 – calendar published by Le Dépêche (a major French newspaper based in Toulouse), richly filled with a variety of articles and numerous photographs. At its center is an extensive coverage of the rise and fall of the French financier and conman of Lithuanian-Jewish origin – Alexandre (Serge) Stavisky, who was assassinated shortly before the calendar’s publication. Accompanied by rare photographs of Stavisky and others involved in the affair. French. Rare.
Among the many articles on a wide range of topics and numerous photographs featured in the calendar, it includes an extensive report on the Stavisky affair, written by Jean A. Ducrot shortly after Stavisky’s assassination: “The explosion of the scandal is too fresh for us to even think of digging through the ruins beneath which he lies…”. The writer recounts the affair from its very beginning. He details Stavisky’s vast business dealings, how he repeatedly evaded French law enforcement as early as the 1920s after being caught in several fraud cases, and describes the political connections he cultivated — including with the Prime Minister of France himself — naming individuals and the extensive network that enabled him to carry out his massive schemes. The article follows his maneuvers through to the day he was assassinated in January 1934.
This article is a historically significant source, having been written near the site of the events, shortly after Stavisky’s death, at a time when all information about him was still fresh and preserved in the newspaper’s archives from countless sources involved in the affair. The article is accompanied by rare photographs of Stavisky from his childhood years, his wife and her two children, his business partners, the judges presiding over his trial, Stavisky being interrogated by police, a photograph of his body as found at the murder scene after he was shot, the doctors’ attempts to resuscitate him at the hospital, and more.
The calendar itself adopts a mildly antisemitic tone, and expresses a respectful stance toward Nazi Germany. Another article includes photographs documenting Adolf Hitler’s meetings with top Nazi leadership — shaking hands with Julius Streicher, among others — and festive events attended by high-ranking Nazi Party officials.
Alexandre Stavisky was a French conman and financier of Lithuanian-Jewish origin, born on November 20, 1886, in Slobodka, Kiev Governorate, in the Russian Empire. In the early 20th century, he became a central figure in a major financial fraud scandal that rocked France. Stavisky was born into a Jewish family; his father was a dentist. At the start of the 20th century, the family moved to France, where Stavisky tried his luck in various occupations, including café singer, nightclub manager, and factory worker in a soup plant. In 1910, he obtained French citizenship. During the 1920s and 1930s, Stavisky operated pawnshops and mingled in financial circles. He sold large quantities of worthless bonds (“junk bonds”), and in 1927 was put on trial for fraud involving six million francs. The trial was repeatedly delayed, and he was released on bail 19 times. In December 1933, as his schemes were about to be exposed, Stavisky fled. Shortly thereafter, on January 8, 1934, his body was found in Chamonix, France, with two gunshot wounds to the head. Authorities ruled it a suicide, but persistent rumors claimed that the police had killed him. The affair sparked a major public outcry, leading to riots in Paris and a serious political crisis in France. The Stavisky affair is considered one of the most notorious corruption scandals in French history and was among the events that contributed to the fall of Édouard Daladier’s government. It inspired numerous literary and cinematic works and became a symbol of corruption and the failure of the political establishment.
Extremely rare. Not listed in bibliographies. Not recorded in the WorldCat global library catalog.
196 pages. Light wear to cover. Good condition.
