Last weekend, Sylvia had a Daisy meeting near Parc Monceau. I took the opportunity to drink some coffee and to visit the Musée Nissam de Camando.
Comte Moïse de Camondo was born in Istanbul in 1860 into a Sepharadic Jewish family that owned one of the largest banks in the Ottoman Empire, established in France since 1869. Moïse de camondo meant to give his mansion and collection to his son Nissim. But World War I broke out, and Nissim was killed in an air battle in 1917. After this tragic loss, he decided to bedqueath his property to the “Arts Décoratifs”, in memory of his son. The museum opened the year after Moïse de Camondo died, in 1935.
The mansion backs on Parc Monceau
The house had some of the first modern bathrooms. They had lovely tiles and looked like they could be in a very nice modern home.
The kitchen was also very modern for the time.
I really enjoyed visiting this musuem and am grateful that the family gave the house for everyone to enjoy. Tragically, during World War II, Moise de Camando's daughter, Béatrice, his son-of-law Léon Reinach and their children, Fanny and Bertrand, died in the nazi camps. The Camondo family died out. They could have fled, but they considered themselves French and did not believe they were in danger.
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