Salvator Cicurel (سليلفاتور شيكوريل3; March 1893 – 15 February 1975) was an Egyptian Olympic foil and epee fencer, and later the president of Cairo's Sephardi Jewish Community Council from 1946 until 1957.

Personal life

Cicurel was born in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, and was Jewish. His father was Moreno Cicurel, and he had two brothers, Solomon and Joseph. The family immigrated from Smyrna to Cairo, Egypt in 1870. He was educated in Switzerland. His father first opened a textile store in Cairo, and then a department store Au Petit Bazaar, which eventually became Les Grand Magasins Cicurel, a grand emporium. After their father died in 1919, the three sons ran the family business. Solomon was stabbed to death at home in his bed in Cairo in March 1927. Following his brothers' deaths, Salvator led the family business, owning Les Grands Magasins Cicurel & Oreco S.A.E., which was a favorite shopping destination for the Egyptian royal family. In addition to his prowess in fencing, he was also an elite Egyptian golfer. In 1933, his niece, Solomon Cicurel’s daughter Lili, married

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

who later became Prime Minister of France from 1954-55. He was a leader of the Cairo Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century. He was President of the Cairo Sephardic Jewish Community Council from 1946-57. In a meeting with the American Jewish Committee in New York in October 1948, he stated his belief about the 1948 Cairo bombings “the recent anti-Jewish outbreaks … ereconnected with the existence of Israel and the defeats of the Egyptian Army there.”Beinin, Joel (1998)
''The Dispersion Of Egyptian Jewry Culture, Politics, And The Formation Of A Modern Diaspora''
University of California Press, c1998. Amer Univ in Cairo Pr, 2005, During the

1956 Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

his store was placed under government control. After the war, Cicurel was forced to sell his interest to Egyptian Muslims, and he emigrated to Paris, France in 1957.

Fencing career

Cicurel won the Egyptian national épée fencing championship in 1928. Cicurel was captain of the Egyptian fencing team and competed in the individual (coming in tied for 7th) and team

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

and team

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

events at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam at the age of 35.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cicurel, Salvator 1893 births 1975 deaths Egyptian male épée fencers Egyptian male foil fencers Olympic fencers of Egypt Egyptian Sephardi Jews Fencers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Jewish male épée fencers Jewish male foil fencers Egyptian people of Turkish-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Egypt Egyptian emigrants to France Sportspeople from İzmir Smyrniote Jews