| ID | 118795 |
| Title Proper | From mediterranean merchant to French civilizer |
| Other Title Information | Jacob Lasry and the economy of conquest in early colonial Algeria |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Schreier, Joshua |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The story of the Oran-based Jewish merchant Jacob Lasry (1793-1869) illustrates how preexisting North African business practices survived and adapted to the radical dislocations of the French conquest of Algeria. In the 1830s, French political turmoil and indecision helped foster a chaotic situation where French generals with nebulous goals "outsourced" financing and even military campaigns to local experts in Algeria. Lasry's business success in the economy of the early conquest invested him with a degree of power vis-à-vis the French administration, whose other proxies sometimes ended up in severe debt to him. With the rise of a "civilizing mission" discourse in the 1840s and 1850s, aspects of this mission, too, were outsourced to local experts. Despite his Moroccan birth, Gibraltarian family, and British subjecthood, Lasry used his stature to secure the official position of president of the province's consistoire israélite, charged with advancing French civilization among Oran's indigenous Jews. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 44, No.4; Nov 2012: p.631-649 |
| Journal Source | International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 44, No.4; Nov 2012: p.631-649 |
| Key Words | Oran - Based Jewish Merchant ; Jacob Lasry ; North Africa ; Algeria ; French Politics ; Jews ; French Civilization |