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Les Grands Magasins Cicurel, Cairo, Egypt
In the heart of downtown Cairo’s bustling shopping district, spanning two city blocks and standing four stories high, looms the flagship store of what was once Egypt’s largest and grandest department store chain, Les Grands Magasins Cicurel [1]. Stocked with the finest fashions and wares from around the globe, the emporium served the cosmopolitan elite of Cairene society, including the Egyptian royal family [2]. The imposing store was located at No. 3 Avenue Boulac and neighbored one of the city’s oldest and most respected establishments, Chemla Frères [3]. Staffed by a French-speaking Jewish staff, Les Grands Magasins Cicurel offered its clientele a world-class, extravagant shopping experience rivaling Europe’s greatest department stores. Founded in 1910 by the Sephardic Cicurel family, the store survived a fire and bombing before being nationalized during the Suez Crisis in 1956 [4].
Description
History
Moreno Cicurel, an Italian subject, migrated from the city of Smyrna to Cairo, both cities of the Ottoman Empire, around 1860. Cicurel began his career in the city as a humble textile merchant working in Cairo’s Mousky district [5]. Moreno embarked on many business ventures in his early years in Cairo, one of which was a haberdashery and ladies wear shop at No. 19 Kasr al-Nil Street, Au Rêve des Dames [6]. His greatest success, however, came in 1910 when he opened Au Petit Bazar on Avenue Boulac (present-day 26th of July Street), strategically located next to Chemla Frères, one of Cairo's oldest department stores [7]. Cicurel purchased the shop, originally a haberdashery and toy shop, from his former employer, a member of the Jewish Hannaux family [8]. In addition to accessibility to the store from the city’s oldest tramway, Line Number 3, which spanned an east-west axis from the Boulac district to the Citadel, the location was advantageous in its proximity to Opera Square with its consulates and high-end hotels such as the Continental Savoy and Metropole [9].
Beginnings
To launch his grand store, Moreno decided to build a magnificent emporium and commissioned Armenian architect Garo Balian for the project [10]. The building, which would become the chain’s flagship store, spanned two separate structures over two city blocks and stood four stories high [11]. The multi-storied department store specialized in a wide range of goods mostly imported from Europe, including men’s and women’s clothes and shoes, cosmetics, glass, crockery and other housewares [12][13]. The flagship store was known for its high-end quality and prices, and its clientele comprised the elite residents of Cairo, including King Fouad himself [14]. Staffed mostly by non-citizen, French-speaking Jews, the Cicurel retained an exotic quality while simultaneously regarded by the local government as a boon to its economy [15]. The Cicurels’ brand expanded, opening locations in Alexandria and Ismailia as well as a more-affordable line of thrift shops known as Oreco, targeted to middle-class buyers [16][17].
Family
Moreno Cicurel’s three sons, Salomon (born 1881), Joseph (born 1887), and Salvator (born 1894), were all involved in the management of the stores following their father’s death in 1919. After Moreno’s passing, Salomon, the eldest son, took control of the company as senior partner and was a prominent member of Cairene high society. However, in March of 1927, Salomon was fatally stabbed by his Italian chauffeur and three associates at Cicurel’s villa on the Nile. The villa is now Cairo University's School of Oriental Studies [18]. At the time, Egypt still utilized the Capitulations system under which foreign nationals were not subject to local laws but those of their own states [19]. Thus, the local Jew who was charged with the crime was tried under Egyptian law and executed for his role in the murder [20].
The middle son, Joseph, served on the Cairo Chamber of Commerce and later, in 1920, became one of ten founding members on the board of directors of Banque Misr, the first national bank of Egypt, in collaboration with the Egyptian economist Talaat Harb and Jewish businessman Yusuf ‘Aslan Qattawi, [21][22].
Salvator Cicurel, the family’s youngest son, was educated in Switzerland before returning to Cairo and eventually becoming one of the most prominent leaders of Cairo’s Jewish community [23]. After completing his studies in 1912, he worked for the family company continuously and ultimately served as managing director and chairman of the board [24]. Along with sitting on the board of numerous business associations, Salvator was an avid sportsman, a quality shared by Egyptian bourgeois nationalist modernity [25]. He won the national fencing title and also served as captain of the fencing team at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics [26]. For many years, Salvator served on the Cairo Sephardi Jewish Community Council, and then, after serving as the community’s vice president, succeeded Rene Qattawi as president from 1946-1957 [27]. His tenure ended the century-long rule of the Qattawi family over the community. Notably, Salvator’s only daughter, Lily, later married Pierre Mendès France, the future French prime minister [28].
Demise
The Cicurel brand was unusual in its favor with Egyptian royalty, and unlike other Jewish businesses, it was not taken under government control during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war [29]. Indeed, the Cicurels considered themselves Egyptians and promoted nationalist causes, also enjoying privileges afforded by ties to the Free Officers [30]. On July 19, 1948, the Avenue Boulac location was targeted in a bombing most likely perpetrated by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood [31]. Shortly afterwards, the store reopened. Again, the flagship store was targeted in the Cairo Fire of January 1952 (Black Saturday) but was soon rebuilt with government assistance, which was thought to be a reward for the family’s support of national causes [32][33]. In 1956, amidst the Suez Crisis, the store was taken under governmental control along with all other Jewish businesses in Cairo [34]. Salvator, the last of the Cicurel family remaining in Egypt, was forced to sell the business to Muslim Egyptians before emigrating to France in 1957 [35]. Four years later the store was nationalized [36]. As of June 2017, the site of the flagship Cicurel store at 3, 26 of July Street is now occupied by a branch of the Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt. Salvator followed in the footsteps of most of the Jewish elite who remained in Egypt after 1948 and left for good in 1956. The majority of these Jews emigrated to Europe and America [37].
Memories of the Cicurel Department Store:
"The story about the Cicurel family brought back nice memories about the time my father, Edouard Chammas, worked for the company for over 40 years. Dad had nothing, but praise about the Cicurel Family that managed the store along with its less luxurious subsidiary store: Oreco. Before the Egyptian revolution, Cicurel displayed and marketed some of the most expensive merchandise to the elite society in Egypt and the Middle East. Even King Farouk and his entourage used to shop at the store, which would then close its doors to the public, to provide privacy for the royals (Security wasn't a big issue in those days!) The owner, Salvatore Cicurel, and his sons were very good to the staff. They organized many recreational outings for the workers. They also sponsored sports and observed important cultural celebrations such as Sham el Nassim. To foster a family-like atmosphere between the employees, the Cicurel family used to rent a hotel in Sporting, Alexandria to encourage the managerial staff to bring their families and spend the summer months together. As a young boy of 8 or 9 years old, I remember then how the employees used to get together and socialize. Dad was an avid " Oud " player, so he would gather his fellow employees to play music, sing and dance in the hotel court. I remember two beautiful ladies by the names: Arlette and Fortunee who used to belly dance and entertain the people."
- George Chammas, February 2008 [38]
"At last, at Cicurel, Cairo’s leading department store, a helpful saleslady located one flimsy child’s woolen coat in the stockroom. It was gray and hopelessly lightweight, with a single button, though it did come with a pretty matching woolen scarf. She assured us it would protect me from the harsh winters of the West. She seemed confident, but her knowledge base was limited to a city where temperatures rarely dipped below 50 or 60 degrees."
- Lucette Lagnado, excerpt from The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit [39]
On the Cairo Fire or Black Saturday, January 26, 1952:
"The brave hearts who finally wandered over to Suleiman Pasha and other popular areas witnessed scenes of unparalleled devastation that brought to mind Berlin after the war—landmark buildings reduced to ashes, establishments like the Jewish-owned Cicurel department store destroyed."
- Lucette Lagnado, excerpt from The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit [40]
Sources
Notes:
1. Nancy Reynolds, A City Consumed: Urban Commerce, the Cairo Fire, and the Politics of Decolonization in Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2012). Accessed June, 9, 2017, [https://books.google.com/books/about/A_City_Consumed.html?id=QIuIqXf-TloC].
2. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcoverdq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
3.] Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
4. “Salvator Cicurel Passes Away,” CIE, February 15, 2017,https://israeled.org/salvator-cicurel-passes-away/. Accessed June 9, 2017.
5. Arthur Goldschmidt, Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000).
6. Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
7. Ibid.
8. Gudrun Krämer, The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914-1952 (I.B.Tauris, 1989). Accessed June 9, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=n6qjaDq1sRwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Jews+in+Modern+Egypt,+1914-1952&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicrPST-rvUAhVL2WMKHZsOAUAQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Jews%20in%20Modern%20Egypt%2C%201914-1952&f=false.
9. Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
10. Ibid.
11. Nancy Reynolds, A City Consumed: Urban Commerce, the Cairo Fire, and the Politics of Decolonization in Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2012). Accessed June, 9, 2017, https://books.google.com/books/about/A_City_Consumed.html?id=QIuIqXf-TloC.
12. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
13. Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
14. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false..
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Gudrun Krämer, The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914-1952 (I.B.Tauris, 1989). Accessed June 9, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=n6qjaDq1sRwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Jews+in+Modern+Egypt,+1914-1952&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicrPST-rvUAhVL2WMKHZsOAUAQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Jews%20in%20Modern%20Egypt%2C%201914-1952&f=false.
18. Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
19. Ibid.
20. David B. Green, “This Day in Jewish History 1927:Owner of Egypt’s Grandest Store Brutally Murdered in Cairo,” Haaretz, March 4, 2014, http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/this-day-in-jewish-history/.premium-1.577653. Accessed June 9, 2017.
21. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
22. Samir Raafat,“CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
23. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
24. Ibid.
25.Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Uri M. Kupferschmidt and Stillman, Norman A., “Cicurel Family,”Encylopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (Boston: Brill, 2010.: Leiden, October 1, 2010), accessed June 7, 2017, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/cicurel-family-SIM_000445.
29. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
30. “Salvator Cicurel Passes Away,” CIE, February 15, 2017,https://israeled.org/salvator-cicurel-passes-away/. Accessed June 9, 2017.
31. Joel Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (American University in Cairo Press, 2005). Accessed June 8, 2017, https://books.google.com/books?id=ENfjCk1IZBcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Dispersion+of+Egyptian+Jewry:+Culture,+Politics,+and+the+Formation+of+a+Modern+Diaspora&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC6cPt-LvUAhVP8WMKHR2rAKEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=cicurel&f=false.
32. “Salvator CicurelPasses Away,” CIE, February 15, 2017,https://israeled.org/salvator-cicurel-passes-away/. Accessed June 9, 2017.
33. Uri M. Kupferschmidtand Stillman, Norman A., “Cicurel Family,” Encylopedia of Jews in theIslamic World (Boston: Brill, 2010.: Leiden, October 1, 2010), accessed June 7, 2017, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/cicurel-family-SIM_000445.
34. “Salvator Cicurel Passes Away,” CIE, February 15, 2017,https://israeled.org/salvator-cicurel-passes-away/. Accessed June 9, 2017.
35. Ibid.
36. Uri M. Kupferschmidt and Stillman, Norman A., “Cicurel Family,” Encylopedia of Jews in theIslamic World (Boston: Brill, 2010.: Leiden, October 1, 2010), accessed June 7, 2017, http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/cicurel-family-SIM_000445.
37. “Salvator Cicurel Passes Away,” CIE, February 15, 2017,https://israeled.org/salvator-cicurel-passes-away/. Accessed June 9, 2017.
38. George Chammas, Web Comment on “CICUREL,” Al Ahram Weekly, December 15, 1994, http://www.egy.com/judaica/94-12-15.php. Accessed June 8, 2017.
39. Lucette Lagnado. The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family’s from Old Cairo to the New World (Harper Perennial, 2007).
40. Ibid.
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