Fernand Nathan
Fernand Nathan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clément Alphonse Fernand Cahen  27 January 1858 |
| Died | 1 January 1947 (aged 88) |
| Education | High school diploma |
| Occupation | Publisher |
| Awards |
|
Fernand Nathan, born on January 27, 1858 and died on March 1, 1947, with the birth name Fernand Clément Alphonse Cahen, also known by the pseudonym Jean Perrot,[1] was a French publisher and founder of the publishing house Nathan.
Biography
[edit]Fernand Nathan was born in Passy (now Paris) in 1858 into a Jewish family from Lorraine.[2] His father was a horse merchant.
Nathan first worked for the Parisian bookseller and publisher Charles Delagrave.[3] Then, on June 8, 1881, at the age of 23,[4] he partnered with Jean-Baptiste Fauvé (1834-1893) to found the Librairie classique Nicolas Fauvé et Fernand Nathan, located at 18 Rue de Condé in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.[5] In 1884, Nathan bought out his partner's shares, becoming the sole owner of the publishing house. The specialization in educational publishing came at a very favorable time for Fernand Nathan: indeed, the Jules Ferry laws and the reforms of the educational system during the first decades of the French Third Republic offered important opportunities for educational publishing.[5]
During World War II, Fernand Nathan, due to his Jewish origins, was a victim of the antisemitic laws targeting Jews in France.[5] He had to flee and hide but managed, before doing so, to entrust the management of the company to a trusted employee. A caretaker was appointed by the occupying authorities, and then the company was "Aryanized".[5] Its management was entrusted to a group of French publishers, with the family Nathan's consent. Upon liberation, Fernand Nathan resumed control of his publishing house, which had thus been saved during the war.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Fernand Clément Alphonse dit Fernand Nathan, Jean Perrot". Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques de l'École des chartes. 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ Metz, Musées de (1990). Les Juifs lorrains, du ghetto à la nation: 1721-1871 : exposition (in French). Association mosellane pour la conservation du patrimoine juif. ISBN 978-2-86057-016-9. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ "Notice de Fernand Nathan". BNF.
- ^ Darcos, Xavier (12 October 2005). L'école de Jules Ferry 1880-1905 (in French). Hachette Littératures. ISBN 978-2-01-238652-5. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Anne Boulenc (June 2005). "Répertoire numérique des Editions Nathan" (PDF). Institut mémoires de l'édition contemporaine.
