234 - MERMOZ, Jean

MERMOZ, Jean L.A.S. “Jean,” Toulouse, May 6, 1931, to his grandparents, the GILLETs; 2 pages, in-4 format, written in blue ink on letterhead from the Hôtel du Grand Balcon. The future of the Aéropostale after the bankruptcy. He has had—and continues to have—a great deal of trouble with “the collapse of the Bouilloux-Lafont Group and the Aéropostale. I nearly lost everything I had, as my money was invested in the group’s companies in both Argentina and France. At the same time, we were no longer being paid by the company, which was struggling so badly that we didn’t know from one day to the next if it would still be in business. I managed to save everything I had in Argentina—380,000 francs—which is now in a safe place. […] At present, I have 130,000 francs remaining, which are invested in the judicial liquidation of the Caisse Commerciale et Industrielle de Paris. I have retained legal counsel and expect to recover my funds in successive installments. Mr. Bouilloux-Lafont assured me that I would lose nothing and that he would make up any shortfall out of his own pocket. […] From the Company’s perspective as well, although the situation remains very unstable and uncertain. In any case, our line is still operating, and that’s what matters most for now. But everyone is calling the shots: the B. Lafont group on one side, the liquidator and the oversight committee on the other, and the government—all these factions are forming and tearing each other apart over the spoils. The influx of government officials adds to the chaos. In short, a project like ours—which we had built so beautifully, with all our energy and all our determination—has been turned into a battlefield where all manner of personal, political, and financial animosities clash against one another. It is very sad and very disappointing. Moreover, against my will, my name is being used and thrust to the forefront in every controversy against the government”; as seen in articles by Joseph Kessel or François Coty: “In short, I’m becoming a political celebrity, and all these troubles are raining down on me without my knowing where they’re coming from.” He is disgusted: “I’ve gone back to the airline. That’s still where one is best off, and I’m flying the Toulouse–Casablanca route again. At least up there, everything is beautiful and clean”… He set the “closed-circuit record in Oran. Right now, they’re preparing the plane for my straight-line record flight from Marseille to Buenos Aires. The modifications I requested won’t be finished for another month and a half. At that point, I’ll head back to Paris to take delivery of it and begin my test flights”; he hopes his grandparents will come there, and they’ll visit the Colonial Exposition. He’d like to come to Mainbressy for Pentecost with the Potez… Gilberte came to Oran with him: “We made two perfect crossings, one from Port-Vendres to Oran. We flew on to Algiers and then returned by boat from Algiers to Marseille. The trip didn’t tire me out. I slept for half an hour in total, drank a glass of champagne, and ate ten oranges! Naturally, I’d lost about two kilograms, but I was in good shape, and with my appetite, I quickly recovered”… Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Then passed down through the family