La plage des Catalans, 3eme photo

Interdit d'utiliser la photo ,propriété MF FOENQUINOS.

Les aieux a la plage des Catalans - 2eme Photo

Interdit d'utiliser la photo ,propriété MF FOENQUINOS

Les aieux a la plage des Catalans

Une photo des aieux de Marie Francoise a la plage des Catalans, a Marseille.
Interdit d'utiliser la photo ,propriété MF FOENQUINOS

Le papa et la maman de Marie Francoise

Jean et Jeannette Foenquinos, Jean est le fils de Leon et le pere de Marie Francoise.

L'amphibie de Leon en action

Portrait du Grand pere Leon Foenquinos

Interdit d'utiliser la photo ,propriété MF FOENQUINOS

Leon et le char marin

Leon et l'histoire des rues de Marseille

Leon et sa ville flottante

propriete protege MF FOENQUINOS

Leon avait imagine ces iles au milieu de l'Atlantique.

Leon et le feu rouge

Une des inventions de Leon Foenquinos qui nous evite bien des accidents de route.

Veuillez cliquer sur l'image pour l'agrandir.

Le lancement de l'amphibie de Leon

Marie Francoise a ouvert ses archives et nous confie ces articles sur Leon Foenquinos, son grand pere , et ses inventions. De tres bons articles de l'epoque, certains remontant a 1921.

Cet article a ete publie par le Petit Provencal, le 26 Mars 1921, en premiere page.

Veuillez cliquer sur l'image pour l'agrandir.

Leon ou Leon

En parcourant les livres mentionant le nom des Foinquinos, nous sommes tombees sur un livre de patents de Leon Foinquinos. C’etait en fait un original publie par le Great Seal Patent Office en 1867 et contenant 900 envelopes. Le livre avait ete mentione par Rafael Foinquinos de Floride, et etait vendu par AB Books Editions pour plus de $200. Deux choses me chagrinaient a propos de ce livre.

En premier, la date me rendait perplexe. Ce n’etait pas possible que c’etait Leon Foenquinos, vu qu’il etait mort a l’age de 65 ans en 1954, ce qui place sa date de naissance vers 1889. Qui etait donc ce Leon qui avait depose ce patent a Liverpool en 1867?

Deuxiemement, le livre mentionait 900 envelopes, mais qu'y avait-il dans ces envelopes? Qu’est ce que ce Leon avait invente au juste?

Apres maintes hypotheses et recherches, la solution est apparue a travers le registre des patents anglais (Great Seal Patent office) trouve en ligne. Une demande de patent avait ete deposee parmi des milliers d’autres, par Leon Foinquinos de Liverpool. Le registre liste les noms et les inventions en 2 colonnes. Pour Leon, l’invention etait celle d’envelopes, 900 modeles d’envelopes et la date etait le 27 Mars 1867. Les envelopes ne devaient pas encore exister, donc c’etait une invention en bonne et due forme puisque la demande avait ete accepte et enregistree.

Un autre registre des Export Merchant Shippers mentionne le nom de Leon Foinquinos aussi a la meme epoque, et indique que ses bateaux se specialisaient dans le transport de denrees vers le Bresil, l’Espagne et le Portugal.

Quand j’ai parle a Simone Foinquinos Melo de Haifa, elle m’a dit qu’il y avait effectivement un Leon Foinquinos qui vivait a Liverpool. Il avait une imprimerie a 10 N John Street. Il a aussi une mansion a Southport, Station Balneaire tres huppee de Liverpool a cette epoque. Donc ca collait, c’etait lui...

Simone dit que ce Leon est issu de la branche de Messod Foinquinos. Messod etait le pere de nos arrieres grand parents Abraham, Rafael et Jonas. Il etait un Export Merchant Shipper lui aussi. Il habitait Gibraltar et ensuite a émigré en Angleterre. Simone a retrouve son acte de marriage quand il s’est marie a Gibraltar en 1828. Elle a retrouve la tombe de sa femme Hana Benabou Foinquinos a Gibraltar aussi. Par pur hasard, elle a aussi trouve une descendante de cette ligne, Elisabeth Simpson Roberts Foinquinos qui avait fait des recherches genealogiques de la lignee anglaise. Simone nous parlera bientot d’elle.

Photos de Jean Foenquinos, papa de Marie Francoise

Marie Francoise vient de m'envoyer ces photos par email. Merci de nous faire connaitre votre papa. Veuillez cliquer sur les photos pour les agrandir.

Les Foenquinos et les Bensadon

Un nouveau chapitre s'ouvre avec Sharon Sinai qui a ecrit des commentaires sous le post de Marie-Francoise. Marie Francoise et Sharon ont des ancetres en commun du cote des Bensadon. Rappelons que Reine Bensadon, l'arriere grand mere de Marie Francoise, etait mariee a Jonas, frere d'Abraham Foinquinos, notre arriere grand pere. Le pere de Reine, Abraham Bensadon, avait un frere, Eliahu qui lui est l'arriere grand pere de Sharon.

Sharon est nee a Casablanca qu'elle quitte pour l'Israel il y a une trentaine d'annees. Elle emporta avec elle un album de photos contenant quelques unes de Leon Foinquinos dont elle ne savait rien. Maintenant, elle habite a Haifa comme Simone Melo et travaille a l'Universite de Haifa.

Il y a environ 7 ans, elle regardait par hasard un programme de cuisine a la tele, quand elle entend le nom Foinquinos, c'etait mon cousin Maurice (fils d'Albert et Perla) qui donnait une lecon de cuisine. Elle ne le connaissait pas, mais avait une intuition qu'il etait de la meme famille que la photo qu'elle avait de Leon Foenquinos. Elle decida de telephoner aux studios de tele qui lui donnerent le telephone de Maurice qui a son tour lui donna le numero de son pere Albert a Kfar Saba. Elle rencontre par la suite Albert et croise Simone Melo chez lui. Simone Melo regarde les photos et lui dit que oui, c'est notre famille et qui elle est en relation avec Leon Foenquinos. Ces photos etaient dans son album de famille depuis toujours, mais grace a Simone Melo, elle a enfin su comment Leon etait lie a sa famille. Sans ce hasard, et cette rencontre, ces photos seraient restes dans leur album, un mystere pour toujours. En genealogie, il semble que tout demarre comme ca. Depuis cette rencontre, Sharon et Simone Melo sont devenues amies et se voient souvent.

Donc bienvenue a la famille Bensadon, si vous voulez que j'etablisse un blog pour vous, dites le moi sur mon email, simonefidel@hotmail.com; on peut aussi lier votre blog et le notre. Si vous voulez ecrire un article, envoyez le moi aussi. La meme chose avec vos photos, si vous les envoyez en format jpg, je peux les integrer a un post ou a un blog.

Plus de photos de la famille Foenquinos

Photo prise le weekend passe: les 3 filles de Marie-Francoise, Agnes et Isabelle les jumelles, et Leontine la plus jeune.




Photo prise le weekend passe, Alexandre, le frere et Beatrice la soeur de Marie-Francoise.

Photo de Marie-Francoise et sa famille

Marie-Francoise et son mari Henry Aldabo, derriere eux, le pere de Marie-Francoise, Jean Foenquinos, le fils aine de Leon Foenquinos.

Marie-Francoise, petite fille de Leon Foenquinos

Comme je vous le disais dans le dernier post de Novembre, Marie-Francoise Foenquinos nous a laisse deux commentaires sur le blog. Je lui ai repondu sur son blog et laisse nos emails, Simone Melo et le mien et nous avons echange quelques emails depuis. Tout ca est merveilleux, apres tant de temps et de generations de retrouver ce cote de la famille que nous savions qui existait mais qui demeurait un peu flou.

Marie-Francoise est la petite fille de Leon Foenquinos, l'inventeur, lui meme fils de Jonas. Rappelons que Jonas, Abraham et Rafael etaient freres. Abraham etait notre arriere grand pere, pere de Moise, Isaac et Esther. Donc ses freres seraient des grands grands oncles pour notre generation. Pour parler de la bougeotte des Foinquinos, ils l'avaient deja dans la generation des arrieres grand parents. D'origine tangeroise, Jonas quitte pour la France, Rafael pour l'Amazonie et Abraham va et vient entre Tanger et l'Amerique du Sud. Resultat: des Foinquinos, un peu partout, en France, en Angleterre, en Espagne, au Bresil, au Peru, en Israel, aux USA,etc... mais peut etre pas en Asie ou Australie. Tout ca sans compter les Foenquinos, les Foinkinos et les Foenkinos et les Follinkinos,etc... le nom a change d'orthographe selon les pays d'accueil.

Donc Leon Foenquinos dont nous avons pris connaissance grace aux documents envoyes par Simone Melo, etait un inventeur hors pair. Nous savions aussi qu'il avait eu des enfants mais ca s'arretait la (pour moi en tout cas). Marie-Francoise nous dit que son pere s'appelle Jean, et qu'il est le fils aine de Leon.

Jean Foenquinos a quatre enfants, Patricia, Alexandre, Beatrice et Marie-Francoise.
Marie-Francoise est nee dans les Pyrenees Atlantiques et a vecu principalement en Provence avec sa famille. Elle est mariee avec Henry Aldabo et ils ont 3 filles, Agnes et Isabelle des jumelles qui ont 25 ans, et Leontine qui a 6 ans et demi. Henry a aussi un fils de 33 ans, Christophe. Ils habitent a Cassis ou ils ont demenage recemment.

Welcome to the Family Marie-Francoise, Henry, Jean, et tous les freres, soeurs, cousins et enfants. Aujourdhui nous ouvrons un nouveau chapitre de notre famille qui etait enfoui dans le sable des generations oubliees. Merci d'avance de participer et d'enrichir notre histoire commune.

Already end of November

November passed like a dream. Not too much energy to put into the blog. Simone Melo was not feeling well either, she then left on a trip for Turkey. She has delayed her trip to France and Morocco to beginning of 2008.

We got a few comments from Marie-Francoise Foenquinos who lives in Marseille and is Leon Foenquinos grand daughter. She is also researching the genealogy of her family. I am sure we will connect one way or another with Simone Melo visiting Marseille soon and thru emails and blogs. She left comments under the posts "Family from Caracas" and "I broke my leg". If you click on her name, on the comment title, that will take you to her blog and you can leave a message for her.

We also got a comment from Raquel Bitchatchi Attias, who is also researching her family Attias genealoy. Her email is raquelbx25@hotmail.com. She has pictures of her family. Click on the Fortunato post (in September), her comment is there in spanish and if you click on her name on the comment title, it shows her family pictures under Generaciones.

November is Thanksgiving month in the US, so let's be thankful to have found some of our common ancestry and hopeful for more exciting news to come our way.

Happy Hanukkah too!

I broke my leg

How many strange things happened the last few weeks! First my daughter's birthday, the next day, the worst fires in California's history. We hardly slept and listened non stop to the news, just in case we had to evacuate. We went to a friend's house by the sea for 2 days. At the same time, work continued, fire or not. The smoke was so intense, it was hard to even walk a few steps without feeling out of breath. So we thought a few days in L.A., will be a nice break. And it started that way, the fires of San Diego seemed far away! But Sunday the 28th, I went to take the dog out and missed one step, landed on the grass, slipped and strained my left leg. I felt I would fall backward on my back, so I tried to catch myself with my right leg, and it cracked twice and I knew I broke it. Impossible to move, intense pain and a feeling my leg turned to cement, impossible to put the foot down. Emergency care at the Century City Hospital. Same day surgery! Four nights at the hospital, back to San Diego, a friend drove us back. No walking for me or driving for at least 10 more weeks. My company installed everything for me to work at home and it's good to be busy instead of thinking of my situation. I wish that to no one. Two broken bones, 10 screws, a brooch in the leg. I will ring forever at the airport. Thank G for the friends, my company and family who called me, wrote to me and are helping me. Please send in your stories, your pictures. I am working from home now and I have more time to build the blog.

Daniel Foinquinos de Melo

I first contacted Daniel by researching the name Foinquinos on the Yahoo groups in Brazil. Daniel was right away very interested to know more about his family origins, and the family in Israel. He is a medical student, specializing in anesthesiology, and he is very busy. With his help, and I hope, others' along the way, we will start to know more about the Brazilian side of our family.

On his mother side, Daniel's grand parents are:
Leao Aaro Foinquinos and Syme Benayon Sicsu Foinquinos, he is from Belem and she is from Manaus, Brazil.

On his father side, Daniel's grand parents are:
Anquizio Melo and Conceicao Melo, both from Teresina, Brazil.

His father's name is Francisco Melo, also from Teresina, Brazil.
His mother's name is Sarah Lea Foinquinos de Melo, she is from Manaus, Brazil.
His uncle (mom's brother) is Aarao Leao Foinquinos from Florianopolis, Brazil.
His brother is Saul Foinquinos de Melo from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This is a picture he emailed me, of him and his mother Sarah Lea Foinquinos de Melo.
Thank you Daniel for making the efforts to participate.

The fires in San Diego

What a strange experience to go through such intense wild fires. The whole area around us went up in flames, hundreds of homes (mostly beautiful homes & estates), already burned and almost half of million people were evacuated. A total of more than 500,000 acres burned from Los Angeles, to San Bernardino, to San Diego county. The county of San Diego was declared Federal Disaster. All the world media was here, as well as our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush today.

The fire started far away, near Julian, maybe more than an hour by car from here. The Santa Ana winds made an electrical pole fall and the sparks lighted a fire. No one thought for a moment that this fire will spread so quickly and widely. Sunday afternoon, there was smoke in the air and the sun in the sky looked pink. A very eerie sight. The smoke at that point was already near Del Mar, by the sea. All night on Sunday, the winds blew strongly, all the windows & doors were shaking, and with the dry season and high temperatures that's why the fire spread so fast.

Faced with the enormity of this situation, one feels insignificant, overwhelmed and dazed and only takes a few things when leaving their homes. The thoughts go to family mementos, mainly family & friends pictures, and important papers. All the rest, is left behind.

The fires spread from almost Julian to Ramona, Poway, Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, Tecate, Spring Valley, Chula Vista, Fallbrook, and Camp Pendleton (communities in San Diego county). They roared for days and they are still not contained. Walls of fire of 20 and more feet built up. But what was so strange is how the fire destroyed all the houses in one street and left all the others one on another street standing, or how every house burned but one house in an area, or how the fire jumped houses, one burned, the other near it was untouched.

I have the good fortune to live in an area not affected by the fires although the smoke and ashes did not spare anyone. We were glued to the TV, the Internet, and the radio since Sunday. We worried about the friends and the people who lost everything and how long this will last! We worried about our place of work and our employees and how the deadlines will be met now that we could not go back to work. Because of the smoke and even if we were not evacuated, we went to spend two nights at a friend near the beach in Point Loma.


I thank you for your emails, calls and concerns. I am grateful to have been spared the destruction of our home and little by little life is going back to normal. Almost everyone is back to work, and that's a good feeling. All this happened on Anais birthday celebration and in almost the same way than 4 years ago on her birthday too. She will remember her 10 year old birthday!

Bon voyage Simone

Simone, our family genealogist, is almost ready to travel to France and Morocco. She will first travel from Tel Aviv to Marseille, where she will consult official documents and meet with family members on the Foenkinos side. This side originated in Tetuan and lived in Algeria before moving to France. She will stay in Marseille at least 4 days before taking a plane for Marrakech, Morocco.

From there, she will go to Safi, known for its fisheries and potteries the world over, to research if her grand father, Isaac, was buried in that city, since her mother Alegria Foinquinos was born there the same month her gd father died. There were no official city records in 1907, so she will have to look at the tombs, many written in hebrew only, at the jewish cemetery. She might have time to visit Essaouira, famed city on the Atlantic coast, established as a trading post by the phoeniciens 3000 years ago and also named Mogador, and I hope for her also Marrakesh, the jewel of Morocco, a real tourist magnet. She will then go to Tangier to research more of her family documents and visit the tomb of her mother.

After that it's Paris and a meeting with Lise Foenkinos, who is a retired mathematics professor from the University of Versailles and is also building her family tree. Lise and Simone have been in contact for many years, as they are equally interested in researching our ancestry. Also in Paris, she'll meet with my friend Jean Attias, from the Editions de Courcelles, who is also interested in researching his family history. It would be a real surprise if we found common ancestors.

Maybe Simone will have time to take the TGV train to Geneva to meet with my sister Caroline and maybe work to put more material on the blog. Geneva is such a beautiful city, it will be a shame not to see it and miss the opportunity to meet with Caroline for the first time.

After all that, back to Haifa where Simmy will need some time to collect her thoughts and breathe a little. Bon voyage Simone and good luck too in finding what you are looking for.

Comment devenir ministre

Blague envoyee par Simone Melo:

Un riche industriel s'adresse à un ami ministre (les riches industriels
ont tous au moins un ami ministre) en ces termes:
- Mon fils me désespère. Il n'a pas terminé ses études, ne cherche même pas de travail, passe tout son temps à boire et à rigoler avec ses copains. Ne pourrais-tu pas lui trouver un boulot dans ton ministère ?
- Aucun problème, répond le ministre. Je le nommerai adjoint d'un de mes directeurs, avec un traitement de 50.000 dhs par mois.
- Non, non. Ce n'est pas cela que je veux. Il faut qu'il comprenne qu'il
faut travailler dans la vie et lui inculquer la valeur de l'argent.
- Ah ? Bon. Je le ferai Chef de division, à 25.000 dhs par mois.
- Non, c'est encore trop. Il doit se rendre compte qu'il faut mériter
son salaire.
- Euh... chef de service alors ? 18.000 dh par mois ?
- Toujours trop. Ce qu'il lui faudrait, c'est une place de petit
fonctionnaire, tout en bas de la hiérarchie.
- Alors là, je ne peux rien faire pour toi, répond le Ministre.
- Mais pourquoi pas ?
- Pour ce genre de poste, il faut un diplôme !
_______________________________________________
A rich industrialist is having a conversation with his friend the Minister (rich industrialists have at least one friend who is a Minister)and was trying to gain a favor:
- I am desperate about my son. He did not finish his studies, he is not looking for a job, spend his time drinking and having fun with his friends. Would you be able to find him a job at the Ministry?
- Not a problem, answer the Minister. I'll name him Assistant Director with a salary of 50,000 dhs per month.
- No, no. This is not what I want. He needs to understand that he has to work and he needs to understand the value of money.
- Really, then I'll make him Chief of Division, at 25,000 dhs per month.
- No, no. This is still too much, he really needs to deserve his salary.
- Hmmm, Department Head then, at 18,000 dhs per month?
- Still, too much. What will be perfect is a position as a simple clerc, really starting at the bottom.
- In this case, I can't help you, says the Minister.
- Why is that?
- For this position, you need a diploma.

La famille de Caracas, our family in Caracas

J'ai poste les portraits des oncles Alberto (Abraham) de Caracas et de sa famille ainsi que de Jacob en Septembre. Voici un peu plus d'informations que m'a donne Simone Melo.

Alberto et Jacob etaient les freres de la mere de Simone Melo, Alegria Foinquinos. Alberto , Jacob et Alegria etaient les enfants de Isaac Foinquinos marie avec Clara Pinto en Avril 1903. Isaac Foinquinos etait le frere de Moses Foinquinos (notre grand pere) et Esther Hadida Foinquinos, enfants eux meme d'Abraham Foinquinos (frere de Jonas de Marseille, Rafael d'Amazonie et Messod de Gilbraltar). Isaac etait interprete attitre du Consulat d'Allemagne (sa photo est sur le post de la Conference d'Algeciras (7 Avril 1906). Il meurt en 1907, le meme mois ou sa fille Alegria (1907-1937)nait a Safi.

Alberto (Abraham) est ne le 19 Fevrier 1905 a Tanger et part pour le Venezuela. En 1932 il epouse Sety Bendahan, d'une famille de Tetouan qui avait deja des affaires au Venezuela. Alberto a ete representant du Venezuela au Premier Congres Juif Mondial de Geneve. Il devient ensuite Consul de Costa Rica a Caracas et a aussi une affaire d'importation de tissus. Il est le pere de 3 garcons et une fille. Il meurt le 8 Septembre 1971 a Caracas. Sety Bendahan, sa femme, est decedee en 1999. Leurs enfants sont:

Isaac, l'aine, est ingenieur petrolier et vit a Caracas ainsi que Jaime le deuxieme fils.

Jack, le plus jeune, est avocat et s'occupe de la bourse. Les enfants de Jack sont Estrella qui vit a Long Island aux Etats Unis et Eric Foinquinos, le fameux composeur, qui vit maintenant a Barcelone. Si vous mettez son nom sur l'internet, il y a des listes de ses compositions, pour films principalement.

La fille d'Alberto est Clara (Clarita), elle habite New York et s'occupe de delinquants juveniles. Elle a 3 enfants et garde contact avec Simone Melo. Sa photo est sur les posts Alberto de Caracas family et Visit a Kfar Saba publies en Septembre sur ce blog.


Jacob (Jack) Foinquinos, le frere d'Alberto de Caracas, est ne en 1906 a Tanger, il part ensuite pour le Costa Rica ou il est professeur de gymn, et est nomme citoyen d'honneur. Il y meurt en 1984 sans descendants.
======================================================

I posted uncle Alberto (Abraham) of Caracas and his family as well as Jacob's portraits in September. Here more information that Simone Melo gave me.

Alberto and Jacob were the brothers of Simone Melo's mother, Alegria Foinquinos.
Alberto, Jacob and Alegria were Isaac Foinquinos and Clara Pinto children (they married on April 1903). Isaac Foinquinos was Moses Foinquinos (my grand father) and Esther Foinquinos Hadida's brother. Isaac, Moses and Esther were Abraham Foinquinos children. (Abraham Foinquinos brothers were Jonas of Marseille and Rafael of Brazil).

Isaac was the official interpreter at the German Consulate (his picture is on the post on the Conference d'Algeciras (4/7/1906). He dies in 1907, the same month his daughter Alegria (1907-1937) was born in Safi, Morocco.

Alberto was born February 19, 1905 in Tangier and left for Venezuela. In 1932, he marries Sety Bendahan, whose family was from Tetuan and already had businesses in Venezuela. Alberto represented Venezuela at the First World Jewish Congress in Geneva. He became later Consul of Costa Rica in Caracas and also owned an import fabric business. He is the father of 3 sons and one daughter. He died on September 8th 1971 in Caracas. Sety Bendahan, his wife, died in 1999. Their children are:

Isaac, the oldest, is an oil engineer and lives in Caracas as well as Jaime the second son.

Jack the youngest son, is a lawyer and works in the stock market. His children are Estrella who lives in Long Island in the USA and Eric Foinquinos, the famous composer, who lives in Barcelona. If you put his name on search engines on the internet, there are lists of his compositions, mainly film music.

Alberto's daughter is Clara (Clarita), she lives in New York and works with juvenile delinquants. She has 3 children and stays in contact with Simone Melo. Her photo is on the posts Alberto de Caracas family and Visit to Kfar Saba published in September on this blog.

Jacob (Jack) Foinquinos, Alberto's brother, is born in Tanger in 1906. He left for Costa Rica where he was Physical Education teacher and was made honor citizen. He dies there in 1984. He stayed single.

Blague marocaine UPDATED

Un marocain âgé, qui vit depuis 40 ans dans le Texas (Etats-Unis), voulait cultiver des pommes de terre dans son jardin, mais labourer la terre était trop difficile pour son âge. Son fils unique, Ali, étudiait en Europe, donc il décida de lui envoyer un e-mail afin de lui expliquer la situation : "Cher Ali, Je suis très malheureux parce que cette année je ne pourrais pas planter mes pommes de terre dans mon jardin. Je suis trop vieux pour retourner la terre seul. J'espère que tu pourras venir et que mon problème sera résolu, parce que tu le feras pour moi. Je t'aime Ton père""Cher père, Que Dieu nous préserve ! NE RETOURNE SURTOUT PAS la terre de ce jardin !!! C'est la que j'ai caché "tu sais quoi". Je t'aime Ali"A 4h00 du matin le lendemain, la police locale, le FBI et des agents de la CIA accompagnés d'une délégation du Pentagone, sont arrivés et ont retournés complètement le jardin à la recherche de matières dangereuses pouvant servir à la fabrication de bombes, d'anthrax ou n'importe quoi. Ils n'ont rien trouvé et sont repartis.Le jour même, le vieil homme reçut un autre e-mail de son fils :"Cher père, Je suis sûr que maintenant tu peux planter tes pommes de terre. C'est le mieux que je puisse faire dans les circonstances actuelles. Je t'aime.Ali"
_____________________________________________________

An old moroccan who lived in Texas for 40 years, wanted to grow potatoes on his land, but working the land was too hard for his age. His only son, Ali, was studying in Europe, so he decided to email him to explain his predicament: "Dear Ali, I am so unhappy as this year I cannot plant potatoes in my garden. I am too old to work the land. I hope you can come and help me. I love you, Dad." Dear Dad, God help us! DO NOT WORK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE on your land!!! It's where I hid "you know what". I love you, Ali". At 4:00 am, the day after, the local police, the FBI, the CIA and a Pentagon delegation, arrived and turned the land upside down, looking for materials to make bombs, spread anthrax, etc... They found nothing and left. The same day, the father received another email from his son: "Dear father, I am sure you can plant your potatoes now. It's the best I could do. I love you, Ali".

160 Recettes de Brick avec commentaires

http://www.linternaute.com/femmes/cuisine/recherche/brick/index.shtml

Ci dessus est le lien pour trouver des centaines de recettes de bricks comme on en trouvait au Maroc ou en Israel. Copier le lien et coller dans la case d'adresse. Bon appetit!


Above is the link for 100's of brick recipes. This is a special paste that is filled and fried and is crispy and delicious. You can find these fried triangles in Morocco and Israel. Copy and paste in the address box. Bon appetit and sorry everything is written in french.

Caroline & Armando Bonilla Foinquinos- Geneva, Switzerland

This and the next 6 photos are the meeting between Armando Bonilla Foinquinos who lives in Italy and my sister Caroline who lives in Geneva, Switzerland. His wife Theresa also came and the three of them seem to have spent a wonderful weekend by the lake on the french and swiss side celebrating her birthday and also getting to know each other.

Caroline & Theresa by Lake Geneva

Caroline & Theresa by an Old Ice Cream cart

Caroline & Theresa in Yvoire

Caroline & Theresa in Yvoire, France

Caroline & Theresa at home in Geneva

Caroline & Theresa (Armando Bonilla's wife)

NEW -Translation of an article on Leon Foenquinos

This is the translation of a french article that I posted in September.

__________________________________________
It happened in Marseille, by Jean Contrucci

June 17, 1954

The forgotten inventor

If you pass by the community child care, on Avenue des Poilus, in the Olives area, you will see a modest square bearing a name probably unknown to most of you: Square Leon Foenquinos.

On March 3, 1979, the inhabitants of this area of the Olives, near the church where he lived the last years of his life, Leon Foenquinos' friends with local political figures accomplished a "gesture of friendship, love and recognition" as the president of the Interest Committee of the area put it.

The man who was honored by these Marseillais (Marseille inhabitants), died not too far from here, 25 years before, on June 17, 1954, on Place Pascal, in a financial situation very close to misery, when he was 65 years old.

How many of those who met him in the streets of the area, sad figure walking hesitantly due to a head stroke, would have thought that this modest and unassuming person, earning a living making simple objects or toys paid a pittance, had been an inspired inventor.

The international press of the years 1920/1930 wrote enthusiastic articles about him. La Patria Italiana, a weekly Franco-Italian newspaper published in Marseille in 1922 did not hesitate to talk about his discoveries as "important enough to be part of the history of science".

Why this genius, so celebrated in his youth, was finishing his life, as a man older than his years, unable to provide for his wife and three sons? This is a sad story that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. For, if he was a genius, Leon Foenquinos was not interested to make it big commercially, and this indifference was only equal to the patriotism he felt towards France.

He was born with a silver spoon in his hand. His parents originally Greek (in Marseille for the last 26 centuries, it's the best way to become a true Marseillais)brought him to life on August 2nd, 1889, at 52 Cours Pierre-Puget, one of the preferred artery of the haute Bourgeoisie of the Belle Epoque. But Leon Foenquinos was not content to be only a rich kid. Neither were his 4 brothers and sisters who became painters, musicians or teachers.

Science was his passion, so much so, that at 22 years old, he had 2 diplomas in aeronautical and mechanical engineering. In fact, he collected more than twenty of those diplomas. He did not care so much how to make machines built by others work, he wanted to invent his own.

In 1915, at 26 years old, Leon Foenquinos put his grey matter at the service of his endangered country: he invents an air mine, guided by radio signals, with an automatic starter. 20 years ahead of his time, he simply had invented the ancestor of the German V1 and preceded by half a century, the missiles.

The torpedo launcher at fixed point that he imagined at that time, other copied the principle. They are now attached to modern submarines.

In his own way, Leon Foenquinos was also a visionary poet. As early as 1919, he envisions a project of floating bridges, artificial beaches and what he calls a floating island. He describes it with lyricism: "its intense lighting will make of it, in the darkness of the night and in the middle of the ocean, a fire crown whose image will be reflected on the water" . He just invented the drilling plateform for the offshore oil exploration. There was something of Jules Verne in Leon Foenquinos. The model of his "floating island" was for a while exhibited at the Palais Longchamp before being forgotten like many of his others creations.

After the war, he spends a part of his personal fortune to finance the study and realization of an amphibian vehicle. Marseille's newspapers from March 24th 1921 are filled with information on the launching of a strange boat the day before "on the ground and on the water: called "La France" launched from the beach of Roucas-Blanc. The vehicle drives and floats, like the tanks that will come out of the water from the beaches on June 1944 (2nd WW).

But his imagination was not only oriented towards war inventions. From 1916, he talks prophetically of women's right to birth control. At the same time that he proclaims being a guardian of morality, he calls for better laws to protect women from the oppression of men. Half a century before anyone talked about women's rights.

His imagination worked in every area, he worried for city pedestrians who were victims of "horrible accidents that happened daily" and imagined the installation at the corners of intersections of "pillars 3 meters in height with electric signals, that light up and sound at the same time, lighting and ringing every 3 minutes to make vehicles stop or start again". If this is not our stop lights, it really looks like it. But he imagined this in 1920. The first stop light was installed in Marseille on the Plaine by Gaston Defferre.... on 1953!

No one at that time understood what Leon Foenquinos called the "Bonds populaires francais", this system preceded by 11 years by its system of distribution to the public and drawing, the National Lottery, which started in November 1933.

Nothing discouraged this misunderstood genius, who by the 1930's, had spent all his inheritance and had to dismantle and sell by the pound his amphibian vehicle because he could not afford to pay the garage rent. He continued without stopping his research, staying up at night to make his creations a reality.

Living in quasi misery, he had plenty of time to meditate on human ingratitude in his modest room where he finished his life forgotten, misunderstood, miserable. He had never wanted to sell his discoveries to other countries, he wanted to keep them for his country, France...

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After researching on Yahoo.fr, I found a picture of the memorial plaque for Leon Foenquinos:
http://village.les.olives.free.fr/lieux/g_foenquinos.JPG

and the place where he lived:
http://village.les.olives.free.fr/places.htm

(copy and paste in the address box)

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How to decorate doors with leather, Moroccan Style

Je recois de temps en temps un email de ce site sur l'artisanat du Maroc. Cette semaine, c'est une lecon qui nous montre comment decorer des portes avec du cuir.
C'est magnifique, et ca vous rappelera le beau Maroc.


From time to time, I receive un email from this site on Moroccan crafts. This week, it's a lesson on how to decorate doors with leather . It's wonderful and it will transport you to Morocco.

Copiez et collez le lien suivant dans la case d'adresse et vous aimerez surement:
Copy and paste the following link in the address box and enjoy:

http://lessouvenirsdemarrakech.blog4ever.com/blog/lirarticle-35284-395408.html

Perla and Albert smiling

This is Perla, my aunt and Albert Foinquinos, my father's brother. Maybe in Marseilles, France where they moved to from Casablanca. Afterwards, they emigrated to Kfar Saba, Israel. I remember when they started learning everyday hebrew. Not a small endeavor. Evelyne really looks like her mom!

Simone Foinquinos in Casablanca

This is my portrait taken in Casablanca at the Bernal studio a year before leaving for Israel. M. Bernal was a photographer, but more importantly he was the King's jeweler. He also made custom jewelry for my mom, Annette Foinquinos. He often showed us pieces destined to the Moroccan court, dignitaries and presidents of other countries. It was for me a lesson in beauty, design and excellent craftmanship.

After my father death in Tangier, Cathy and I left for Israel. I was placed in a french school in Jerusalem then in Natanya, where my mom lived too. I got married to a french, and I lived in Tours, Orleans, Besancon in France where I got my master degree in Law. I lived after that in Lausanne and Geneva in Switzerland before coming to the States 20 years ago. I studied management at UCLA and I am a Human Resource Director. A true nomad! I also have a 10 year old daughter, Anais, who is by far, the best thing I ever did!

Jack & Simone Melo Foinquinos

Both young chicks on Avenue d'Espagne in Tangier, eating Barquillos.

Cathy Foinquinos portrait in Casablanca

This is my sister Cathy, she lives in Tel Aviv and has a clothing store in the Dizengoff area with her daughter Carine. She is passionate about fashion and is importing new clothing lines to Israel. She is also an accounting manager and a mother of 3. She has two beautiful daughters, Carine, a fashion designer, and Stephanie, a communication major. Ron, her son, is a guitarist virtuoso often recording with Israeli artists.

This portrait was taken in Casablanca before moving to Israel, maybe in 1969.

Alegria Hadida

A wonderful picture of Alegria Hadida Foinquinos

Dora & Alegria Hadida Foinquinos

They were Esther Hadida's daughters. Esther Hadida was Isaac & Moses Foinquinos sister. They were born and lived in Tanger. Afterwards, Alegria emigrated to Israel and lived in Yavne. She was a very nice person, my sister Cathy and Simone from Haifa remember her with fondness. Dora married and moved to Columbia, South America, where she still lives.

My sister Caroline's birthday was October 6th

She lives in France and works in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Intellectual Propriety Organization, a UN organization. She celebrated her birthday this weekend. Happy birthday Caroline for the big 50! I will never forget when your birthday celebration fell on the same day the Kippour War started. Le mea ve esrim!

Caroline's portrait done in Casablanca, maybe in 1969:

Jo from Cap D'Agde, South of France

This is Joseph Foinquinos Tal, my cousin, Albert Foinquinos and Perla Levy'son. He lives in Cap D'Agde in the South of France. He is an architect and entrepreneur. He is also a talented painter, I remember all the paintings his parents sent to mine when we were kids, we hanged them on our walls and we were amazed at his skills. He also sings beautifully and was the family photographer. He is Rubin's father.

Common Sephardic Naming conventions

As you can see, first names like Fortunato (Messod), Moses, Jack, Isaac, Abraham are repeated from one generation to the next, which makes it sometimes difficult in term of genealogy. Here how it generally works:

Firstborn son is named after the paternal grandfather.
Second male child is named after the maternal grandfather.
First daughter is named after the paternal grandmother.
Second female child is named after the maternal grandmother.
Next child after the paternal uncle or aunt,
Next after maternal uncle/aunt,
etc.

If a grandparent (paternal or maternal) or sibling was deceased, his/her name would often take precedence over the living relative. Some Spanish exiles named children after their own parents.


Source: Jewish Names and genealogies by Jeffrey S. Malka

Les Foinquinos d'Algerie

Simone Melo dit qu'ils sont originaires de Tetouan. Ils sont partis en Algerie a la suite d'une guerre des espagnols qui a ete suivie d'une epidemie, on les a evacues a Gibraltar, dans un camp et quand l'orage est passe, ils pouvaient soit rester – soit retourner a Tetouan soit partir en Algerie, c'etait vers 1830/35.

Alors ils ont choisi l'Algerie - la France venait d'occuper l'Algerie en 1830 et cherchait des colons, ainsi ils sont devenus francais. Ensuite une partie de la famille est partie en Argentine.


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Simone Melo says that they are from Tetuan. They went to Algeria after a Spanish war followed by an epidemic, they were first evacuated to Gibraltar, and stayed in a camp until everything calmed down. They could stay in Gibraltar, go back to Tetuan or go to Algeria, it was around 1830/1835.

They chose Algeria - France started occupying Algerie around 1830 and was looking for colonists, they became french. Afterwards, some of them went to Argentina.

Origines du nom Foinquinos #2

My sister Cathy Foinquinos tells me that the root of our name means phoenician. The phoenicians came from Canaan, by Lebanon, and had outposts along the Mediterranean - Greece, Spain, Portugal and North Africa. When the jewish religion developped, they converted to Judaism 5000 years ago. Before that they were pagans. The name became Foinquinos from Phenikos. Simone Melo tells me that in greek the phoenicians were called Phenikis.

Ma soeur Cathy Foinquinos me dit que la racine du nom Foinquinos est phenicien-ils sont descendus de Canaan -a cote du Liban et ils se sont installes ds les comptoirs de la mediterannee-Grece, Espagne, Portugal et Afrique-quand la religion juive est arrivee avec Moise, ils se sont convertis au judaisme- avant cela ils etaient paiens-il y a environ 5000 ans, et le nom est devenu Foinquinos -derive de Phenikos. Simone Melo dit qu'en grec les pheniciens sont appeles Phenikis.

Henri Foinquinos and Annette Bohbot

My mom and dad on their wedding day. He was Moses Foinquinos and Esther Abecassis youngest son, his brother was Albert Foinquinos, his sister Alegria Foinquinos. My mom is Annette Bohbot, her family was from Casablanca but also spoke spanish. They seemed so young and their life was in front of them, so full of promises. Dad we all miss you!

How to add photos to your posts

I spent the weekend adding photos to the blog. This is a process that I finally figured out. The IT Director at my work, explained to me that the best is to scan the photos in TIF format, which allows for all the details of the picture to be picked up.

From there the picture can be copied to the desktop and with a Photo Editing program, picked up and cropped, cleaned, straightened out and the levels of dark/grays/highlights rearranged. When all this is done, the picture is Saved as and the JPG format should be selected as it compresses the image and it will be faster to download and view it in the blog.

Finally, you open the blog, and create a post and select the picture icon after the ABC (see tool bar when you create a post). This opens a window which gives you the option to browse your documents, you open all the documents you have on the desktop and select the picture in JPG you worked on. You press done, et voila! The photo is on your post and you only need to add words.

If this is all too complicated and you want to post photos, just send me an email with the photo scanned in TIF format as attachment, at simonefidel@hotmail.com. I'll enter your photos for you.

If you don't have a scanner, there are places for digital pictures that take paper pictures and copy them onto CDs to be read digitally.

Now look in your photo albums & boxes, there are all those photos that we would love to see!

Simone de Haifa

Wonderful portrait of Simone Foinquinos Melo, the family Foinquinos genealogist.

Pentateuque propriete de la famille de Marseille

Papa and Jack

Simone Foinquinos Melo Dad,Moses Melo Pinto, and her brother Jack in Tangier.

Leon Foenquinos et son vehicule amphibie

Le poster qui annoncait l'invention du vehicule Amphibien de Leon Foenquinos montre a l'Expo de Paris en 1921.

The poster that announced Leon Foenquinos' amphibian vehicle shown at the Paris Expo in 1921.

Visit to Kfar Saba

Tata Perla, Albert Abecassis Foinquinos's wife,
behind Simone Foinquinos Melo and in red Clarita Foinquinos,
Alberto Foinquinos de Caracas' daughter. On the right Albert Abecassis Foinquinos, Moses Foinquinos & Esther Abecassis son.

Jacobo Foinquinos

He was Isaac Foinquinos and Carla Pinto's son, (Simone Melo uncle), he lived in Costa Rica. He is Alberto de Caracas's brother. He was born in 1906 and died in 1984. He has no children.

Helena Melo Pinto

Helene Melo-Pinto de O'Hana is Simone Foinquinos Melo aunt and the father's sister.

Isaac Foinquinos at the Conference of Algeciras -April 7th 1906

Isaac Foinquinos was the interpreter for the Kaiser at this Conference that decided the International Status of Tanger, he is the last person looking at the camera on the right side. (he is Simone Foinquinos Melo grand father).

Clara Pinto portrait

She was Isaac Foinquinos' wife, the mother of Alberto, Jacobo and Alegria Foinquinos. Simone Foinquinos Melo's grand mother.

Clara Pinto & Moses Pinto Melo

Simone Foinquinos Melo's Gd Mother Clara Pinto de Foinquinos
with her father :at the age of 1 year Moses Pinto Melo.
This is a very old picture, and I tried to make it better.
The details on the dress are wonderful.

Article reconnaissant le genie de Leon Foenquinos

Please click on the article to enlarge it.

An article that was published in a Marseille (France) newspaper. Please read first column on the 1st page and continue on the 2nd page, then go to 2nd column of the first page then finish on 2nd column of the 2nd page.

I translated this article on October 9th 07, please look at October posts.

Alberto of Caracas family

Standing behind: Clarita Foinquinos Bendahan - Jaime Foinquinos Bendahan
Front : Isaac Foinquinos Bendahan
Sety Bendahan de Foinquinos (their mother) and on her lap Jacobo Foinquinos Bendahan.

The children are Simone Foinquinos Melo first cousins - they are Alberto Foinquinos Pinto children, Alberto is her uncle.

Alberto Foinquinos from Caracas

He was also Isaac Foinquinos and Clara Pinto's son, Jacobo's brother. He lived in Caracas.

Deces de Sara Attias Foinquinos

Simone de Haifa vient de retrouver la date du deces de Sara Attias a Tanger, en 1918, elle est inscrite comme veuve dans le certificat de deces. Donc elle est peut etre enterree a Tanger et non pas a Tetuan comme on le pensait. La famille de Sara Attias etait de Tetouan. Son mari Rafael mort, elle a surement du revenir a Tanger et a du vivre avec sa fille Rahma.

Simone from Haifa just uncovered when Sara Attias died, in 1918, she might be burried in Tangier and not in Tetuan as previously thought, and her death certificate mentions that she is a widow. Sara Attias family was from Tetouan. We think that when her husband Rafael died, she went back to Tangier to live with Rahma.

Fortunato Foinquinos Attias

Mi abuelo Fortunato, segun una Carta de Identidad del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Peru, nacio en 1881 y era de nacionalidad Brasilera. Entiendo que nacio en Tanger, pero no tengo ninguna constancia, documento o prueba.

A continuacion copio una parte del documento "La vida de Moyses y Abraham Pinto en la Jungla del Amazonas " , donde hacen referencia a mis bis-abuelos Rafael y Sara:
http://juifs-marocains-en-amazonie.com/espanol/Abraham-Pinto-chapitre2.html

"En mi primer viaje que hice 1881-82 desde Teffé al río "Javary" llegamos a un lugarcito que se llama "Tomantinos" donde estaba establecido Rafael Foinquinos con su mujer, Sara Attias, cuya hija aún existe aquí en Tanger, y se llama Rahma. "

My grandfather Fortunato, according to ID issue by Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Peru, was born in 1881 and he was Brasilian citizen.I understand that he was born in Tanger but I haven't any document.

According to Abraham Pinto Memories, my bis grandparents Rafael Foinquinos and Sara Attias were located between 1881-1882 in "Tomantinos", now called "Tonantins" in Brazil.

Moses Foinquinos & Esther Abecassis

Please click on the picture to enlarge it.

Look at your grand father, Cathy, Carole and Patricia. He is also your grandfather Maurice, Jacky, Jojo, Evelyne and Lily. How elegant and romantic is this picture and it's true Jacky looks like him. Simone from Haifa tells me that he had a wonderful voice and people will come to listen to his singing on Saturdays. Among them, the Consul of France was a regular. So bad that we did not get to know him!

Simone Melo from Haifa tells me also that he also went to Brazil for some time, but returned to live in Tangier.

His wife and our grand mother Esther Abecassis. He loved her so tenderly that he did not survive her death.

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C'est votre grand pere, Cathy, Caroline et Patricia. C'est aussi votre grand pere, Maurice, Jacky, Jojo, Evelyne et Lily. Cette photo est tellement romantique et nostalgique, et c'est vrai Jacky lui ressemble. Simone de Haifa me dit qu'il avait une voix merveilleuse et que les gens venaient le voir chanter le samedi. Parmi ces admirateurs, venait souvent le Consul de France a Tanger. C'est tellement dommage que nous ne l'ayons pas connu.

Simone de Haifa me dit que notre grand pere aussi est parti pour le Bresil et est reste la bas un certain temps, mais il est revenu vivre a Tanger.

Sa femme et notre grand mere Esther Abecassis, qu'il aimait tant qu'il n'a pas pu continuer a vivre apres sa mort.