Cyril Grange

The accumulation and transmission of wealth over a long period: example of a rural family from Loire-Atlantique in the 19th and early 20th centuries

This research seeks to trace the transfer of wealth down the male line of a rural French family through the 19th and 20th centuries, and to decipher the logic of accumulating and transferring wealth. The subject will be approached from an angle different from that of Segalen [Ethnol. Fr. 8 (1978) 271], who followed which farmers had cultivated the same farm through two centuries. The itinerary of wealth passing through the six generations examined here was traced using the range of legal documents that mark a persons life: purchases, sales, exchanges, marriage contracts, gifts, and inheritances. Wealth behavioral patterns that are assumed to follow an economic logic are described using neoclassical economic models.

Scanning for patterns of relationship: analyzing kinship and marriage networks with Puck 2.0

The article presents the software Puck (Program for the use and computation of kinship data), a computer tool for the in-depth analysis of kinship networks. Its core feature consists in identifying, counting and classifying matrimonial circuit structures (resulting from marriages between kin or affines). Such matrimonial censuses make it possible to explore in a rigorous fashion one of the most central questions in kinship studies: the relationship between particular marriage choices and the patterning of the global kinship network that emerges from them. At the same time, Puck constitutes a general tool for the management, treatment and exploratory analysis of genealogical datasets, including non-genealogical relations and random simulations. Puck has been designed to meet two complementary expectations: the identification of the recurrent, cross-cultural organizational properties of kinship networks, and the ability to situate particular actors within social processes involving both genealogical and non-genealogical factors. This article presents the theoretical foundations and main functions of Puck, using concrete examples drawn from a genealogical dataset of upper-class Parisian Jewish banking dynasties present in Paris during the nineteenth century.

The choice of matrimonial witnesses by Parisian Jews: Integration into greater society and socio-professional cohesion (1875–1914)

Matrimonial witnesses, despite their limited number (two for each spouse) can serve as a barometer for measuring the intensity of family and professional ties that link witnesses and couples. The superposition of these two dimensions and the study of marriage certificates listing at least three witnesses practicing the same profession shed light on the structure of Parisian Jewish society at the end of the 19th century. In the business world in which most traditional Jewish professions are found, behaviors were more autonomous. The chronological evolution, however, shows a trend toward weaker cohesion, especially for merchants. While the new professions in medicine, law, and those in the artistic, cultural and intellectual worlds are present, they allowed for a greater independence from family ties. The chronological division shows that these professions were able to structure themselves progressively as autonomous circles.