MERMOZ (Jean)

Lot 416
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Estimation :
5000 - 6000 EUR
MERMOZ (Jean)
Autograph manuscript. [September or October 1936]. 3 p. on 3 ff. in-4 (26.8 x 20.9 cm), black ink and black pencil. Draft of a vehement protest by Mermoz against Air France's support for the Spanish Popular Front. Autograph manuscript, erased and corrected. "Le Flambeau" reproduced a letter from Mr Serre, Air-France's equipment manager and Vice-President of the Federation of Popular Aeronautical Sports, ordering 11 twin-engined aircraft from England for the Spanish Popular Front, some of which have already been sent to Spain via Toulouse. The activity of Air-France's equipment manager is not limited to these all-commercial events. He acts as a sort of technical advisor to the Spanish Popular Front government. His political activity manifests itself during frequent stays in Madrid where his mediation between anarchists, communists and socialists is apparently very effective. Is it not unacceptable to see the equipment manager appointed to a subsidized and therefore semi-official national C[ompagn]ie engage in such commercial and political traffic when the main concern of Air-France's general management should be the fear of jeopardizing the fate of its future general policy in Spain? [...]». At the end of this text, Mermoz mentions "special aircraft paid for by the Spanish Embassy [...] to transport passengers to Madrid or Barcelona via Toulouse whose names are sufficiently edifying to spare them any comment. ...] The delegates of the Moscow Komintern are delighted with the goodwill, speed and comfort offered by the services of the C[ompagn]ie Air-France. What a beautiful advertisement for the future." PROVENANCE: Sale, Paris, 11 October 2008, lot M109. Pinholes and angular rust marks.
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