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A story about Yves Cordelle's family:
Jean Cordelle (1898-1984), Simone Hausermann (1898-1987), and their children,
during their stay in Argentina, 1928-1939
In 1928, Jean and Simone Cordelle and their two sons, François, 7 years old, and Michel, 6 years old, moved to Argentina, in Rosario (2nd city of the country, 500,000 inhabitants), seaport on the Rio Paranà, 300 km upstream of Buenos Aires. They were accompanied by a Bordeaux servant, Clementine Duzer, met during their stay in Grattequina, who remained at their service.
Jean Cordelle was appointed by his company, SA Hersent, to head the public works branch of Rosario: PUMA Argentina (Sociedad de Obras Publica y Maritima). It was in particular Gilbert Hersent (one of the 2 sons of Georges Hersent, and grandson of founder Hildevert Hersent) who was the direct superior of Jean Cordelle.
This stay lasted eleven years. The family lived in a large colonial style house, at 2181 Avenida Pellegrini, with garden, covered gallery, terrace, covered patio, 8 rooms, kitchen, office, bathroom.
Page 61, first photos of the house and family in Rosario, August 1928
Their house was a large colonial style house, in 1685, avenida Pellegrini, at the corner of the calle Espania (??), with garden, interior patio, terrace.
Page 611, February 1929 - Holidays in Colonia in Uruguay
In February 1929, it was the summer in the southern hemisphere, the family went on vacation in Uruguay, on the other side of the Rio de la Plata (the Paranà estuary), which is 150 km wide. That year, they went there with friends, the De Seroux, to the Hotel de Colonia. The climate was considered less heavy and painful in Uruguay than in Buenos Aires or Rosario.
Page 62, in France, 1928-29
The parents and cousins stayed in Europe:
Nany was sometimes in Paris, sometimes in Vierville.
The Chedals were in Greece (they came on vacation to Vierville, the journey being either by train, Orient Express, or by boat from Marseille to Piraeus). Georges Chedal was an engineer at Hersent and was managing the works of the port of Piraeus.
See the Chedal in Greece, page 642, .
Jean and Germaine Hausermann were installed in the Verdon, on the Gironde, where Jean was a young engineer at the work of the Hersent: construction of the Verdon landings, in collaboration with German companies and financiers who caused a lot of trouble, in addition to considerable technical difficulties.
Gabriel and Suzannette Dessus Gabriel Dessus had left Maritime Engineering and worked at CPDE (Parisian Electricity Distribution Company).
Good-bye, ma'am. (Hélène Feige-Cordelle), mother of Jean Cordelle, was in Paris.
Therese (Test, his sister), Pierre Dupuis and their 4 children were in the province, where Pierre had his job, accountant at the Banque de France, successively at Bergerac (circa 1920, then Vannes (circa 1925), then Calais (1928-1932). She had 2 children (Yvonne and Gillette) born from her first marriage to Georges Bidel, and 2 children born from her remarriage with Pierre Dupuis: Antoinette (*1920 and Jean (*1924)
Gillette Bidel married Guy Jenny in 1929. Yvonne Bidel married André Liébaut later in 1938.
Nany gives a lot of details in her letters to her children Jean and Germaine Hausermann:
page 621, letters from 1928 Jean H. is in Bizerte, until his marriage in Toulon in August. From September, the household settles at avenue de Longchamp at Nany, waiting for a new assignment for Jean Hausermann who will finally leave at Verdon, without returning to Bizerte.
Mara died (half sister of Nany, married to Uncle Robert Gervais, in Cherbourg on 6 August 1928.
page 622, letters of 1929 addressed to the Verdon, site where Jean Hausermann is located
page 623, letters of 1930 addressed to the Verdon, birth of Jean-Paul Hausermann on March 13
page 63, Rosario in 1930
The Cordelle family stayed in Rosario during the first months of 1930, without going on vacation in Uruguay. Yves was born on May 8, 1930 at the English clinic in Rosario. His godmother was Suzannette, the little sister of Jean Cordelle, born in 1902, married to Gabriel Dessus. page 624, in France, 1930 in France, Aunt Suzannette died of tuberculosis in 1930., shortly after the birth of her goddaughter Yves.
Two people in his family had already died of this very common disease at that time: in 1904, his sister Germaine, 2 years old, and in 1912, his father Louis Cordelle, (Yves' father-in-law).
page 631, holiday in Riachuelo, a lost place in the Uruguayan campo, the beach on the Plata River and the horse were great distractions.
The holiday was in January - March, in the southern summer, in a Norwegian wooden chalet (with clins), built near a granite quarry, in the Riachuelo and dating back to the beginning of the century, which served as a quarry for the construction of the port of Rosario (there is no stone at all in the plain of Buenos Aires and Rosario: the "pampa" is strictly flat, made up of very fine silts).
Every day, at the Riachuelo, an old convertible, led by a Uruguayan peasant named Vinay (the guardian of the quarry), drove the family to the beach near, on the Rio de la Plata, which flows a warm yellow water, in which one bathes with pleasure.
The garden was large around the cottage. Eucalyptus, fig trees, whale bones, long-standing beach, cabins, swings, flowers, hummingbirds, profusion insects, especially large capricios found in fig trees, a total paradise for entomologists. Yves hunted butterflies. There were also fishing parties in the shaded Riachuelo. We also did horse riding, a passion of Yves's mother who climbed alone from the age of 5 and kept her whole life from being unacceptably apprehensive to ride on a horse.
There was no drinking water, a windmill drew water from a well, which was filtered out of a large sandstone stone. No electricity either, it didn't get wet, it was lighted up with oil lamps and the days were long.
page 632, Rosario in 1931
In 1931, life in Rosario was marked by the arrival in June 31 of Hausermann with Jean-Paul, who was 1 year old, the same age as Yves. They will be companions of games almost daily for 8 years.
Life in Rosario in the 1930s
Yves remembers with great precision his childhood in Rosario: his room with a barbed bed, learning reading and catechism with his mother, the garden with two "big" palm trees, a mandarin, a glycine, a turtle, two tamed valves (plurals of cut wings) that were returned every night to a small house, like hens, black ants and red ants, violets, walks in the public garden: the Roseraie, where there were swans and peacocks, where he learned to ride a bike, the Avenida Pellegrini with his trams, firefighters who passed by, The newspaper merchants at the corner of the street, under the walls of the garden, the department stores "Gath y Chaves" a few "cuadras" from there (the city was gridded in squares of 120 m side), the permanent presence of "Titina" the nice Bordeaux domestic who kept it.
There was also the port and its works, the permanent camaraderie with Jean-Paul Hausermann, his cousin, of the same age, whose parents Jean Hausermann (Allouni the godfather of Yves) and Germaine Saillard-Hausermann had also settled in Rosario around 1931 (Jean Hausermann had entered Hersent's house about 1927). With Jean-Paul, Yves remembered to have played every day on the train (Hornby, spread 4 cm), to the soldiers, to the naval battle, with miniature cars... There was also Jean-Paul's younger brother: Jean Louis, born in 1934, sometimes a disturbance, whom Titi was called. Yves attended the primary school by correspondence with his mother and with a teacher, Miss Léger, a French woman who came daily for him and his brothers. Another, Miss Patrikios, came for the calculation. François and Michel continued their studies in France from 1935.
Nany wrote every 15 days to the Hausermann and the Cordelle, giving always detailed and picturesque news, only the letters addressed to the Hausermann were kept:
page 641 letters from Nany in 1931
First addressed to Fedalah (Morocco), where Jean H. left alone in January, Aunt Maine first moving to Toulon, then addressed to Rosario where the household settled.
page 633, trip to the Iguazù FallsAugust 1931
In Argentina, Dad, Mom, François and Michel went to visit the Iguazù Falls, going up Paranà for nearly 1000km.
Yves, who was 1 year old, stayed in Rosario with Clementine. Finally Yves never went to see these extraordinary falls. page 6331, up from the Rio Paranà on the way to Iguazù
page 634, Riachuelo In January and February 32, the Cordelle and Hausermann spent their summer holidays in Riachuelo, Uruguay.
page 635, Rosario in 1932 From March to June 1932, life in Rosario with the Hausermanns, excursions on the Paranà rio.
page 643 letters from Nany in 1932
It was in 1932 that Nany left the apartment of 123 avenue de Longchamps for a rental in a new and modern set on the 4th right 27 Avenue de LamballeThe two apartments were communicating through a small corridor where there was the telephone.
This year too, Good-bye, ma'am., rented a 3 rooms in a modern and good quality HBM (Hôpital à Bon Marché), at the Porte de Saint-Cloud, 6 Dode de la Brunerie Avenue).
Maybe it's the same time that Grandma Feige has settled with his daughter Thérèse Dupuis in Besançon. Mother and daughter therefore left together a Parisian apartment that Yves does not exactly locate, perhaps this was still 2 rue Pierre Curie, where Grandma Feige was during the war with her 2 daughters and their 6 children.
Aalmost 4 years of uninterrupted stay in Argentina, the Cordelles had their first holidays in France:
page 644, the journey to France in July 1932 on board the Avila Star
page 6441, the stopovers The English ship stopped at Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon. the trip lasted between 2 weeks and 3 weeks 1/2 depending on the boat: passenger ships went faster than mixed cargo/passenger ships.
page 645, the stay in Vierville in 1932 The Cordelles found Nany, Tonton Robert (who now lived alone in Cherbourg, after the death of Mara his wife and half-sister of Nany, and the cousins Chedal on summer vacation.
page 6461, tourism in Normandy, visit to BesançonIn the summer of 1932, the Cordelles visited France (Cherbourg) and were seen the Dupuis in Besançon, where Grand-Mère Feige, Dad's grandmother, also lived.
They were then in the Alps:
page 6462, tourism in the Chartreuse
page 6463, tourism in Chamonix
The journey of return took place in November 1932 on the English ship "Almeda Star", with many interesting stops.
page 6471, back to Argentina, stopover in Madeira
page 6472, stopover in Tenerife, passage off the islands of San Fernando Do Noronha
page 6473, stopover in Rio de Janeiro
page 6474, stopovers in Santos and Montevideo
Page 651, Rosario, December 1932 The Cordelles found the Hausermanns in Rosario and the two cousins Jean-Paul and Yves were next to each other again.
From January to March 33, the two families usually stayed in the Riachuelo. François was wounded, a horse kick in the calf. It is probably the first memory, of Yves who was not yet 3 years old:
page 6521, holiday in Riachuelo, summer 1933
page 6522, the beach of Riachuelo, summer 1933
page 6523, life in Rosario in 1933
page 6524, on the river Paranà, and at the port of Rosario in 1933
During the summer 1933, in Europe, Nany and the Chedals were in Vierville where Georges Chedal took beautiful pictures of the castle.
page 653, Vierville in 1933
Nany kept writing to the Hausermanns,page 6531, letters of 1933
Photos of cousins left in France or Greece:
page 6532, in France in 1933, Paris, Les Feige, Dupuis, Jenny, Dessus, etc. page 6533, the Chedals in Greece in 1933
page 654, 1934 - Holidays in Riachuelo as usual during the Southern Summer
Jean Cordelle and Jean Hausermann made a business trip to Brazil, near Torrès:
page 6551, 1934 Torres, Part I
page 6552, 1934 Torres, Part II
The life in Rosario in 1934, birth of Jean-Louis on 4 February, excursions, the harbour construction sites, trip of Hausermann to France, notably to Vierville, Algiers and Toulon
page 657, 1934 - Rosario, the family
page 6571, 1934 - Rosario, excursions, construction sites
page 658, Vierville, the Chedals, 1934, The Chedals came to Vierville for all the holidays of 1934.
page 6581 the letters of Nany of 1934
page 6582, the Dupuis in 1934, in Coutainville, on holiday
page 6583, 1934 -
Travel to France from the Hausermann. Departure for Algiers and Marseilles by the Mendoza in October 34, return by the
Florida in April 35, Jean H. returned from Argentina since 1931;
page 661, 1935 - Holidays in Riachuelo
page 6611, the beach of Riachuelo 1935
Page 662, Rosario, the Cordelle 1935
Page 6621,Rosario, the Hausermann 1935
Yves' parents made it this year. 1935, a tourist trip with François and Michel in the Sierra de Córdoba, Yves remained in Rosario with Clementine:
page 6631, 1935 - Sierras de Cordoba A
page 6632, 1935 - Sierras de Cordoba B
page 6633, 1935 - Sierras de Cordoba C
Second trip to France from the Cordelle, departure in August 1935 by the mixed cargo ship "Jamaica", various stops in Santos (Sao Paulo), Rio, Casablanca (visit of cousins Emile Hausermann), Lisbon, arrival in Le Havre.
page 6651, 1935 - Trip to France, stopover in Santos, the port that serves Sao Paolo
page 6652, 1935 - on board, Rio and arrival in Europe
page 6641, 1935 - Les Dessus in Paris-Les Chedal in Greece
In France, the Cordelles Nany and Chedal
In Vierville, the Dupuis In Besançon with
Grandmother Feige, Jenny in Rueil, Matusek in Toulouse, Good-bye, ma'am. In Paris (Avenue Dode), and stayed in Paris in the autumn, but Jean Cordelle left in Argentina in October 35.
page 6653, 1935 - France, Vierville
page 6654, 1935 - France, the various families
François and Michel stayed in Fance They were in class with their cousins Chedal at Kaiser, near Janson High School. François entered second, Michel in third. They could not attend these classes in French at Rosario, and the parents resolved to send them to France.
The Hausermanns had stayed in Rosario. See page 6642, letters from Nany of 1935,
page 666, 1935 - End of the year in Rosario with the Hausermanns
page 6655, 1936 - Travel home. The return of Mom and Yves was made in January 36 on board the "Campanà", by Marseille.
A Rosario, in 1936, life continued (page 6711) with the Hausermanns, page 6712, 1936 - Rosario, the Hausermanns
page 6713, 1936 - Rosario , various excursions nearby, Alberdi, the port, San Lorenzo
But Cordelle's parents were very concerned about the disorders in EuropeGeneral strikes in France, Spanish War, Hitler in power in Germany with his threats to peace.
They exchanged letters with the family in France asking if they should bring back their big children. The concern was such that Nany and the Chedals had even been considered for departure in Greece. These letters are very instructive about the state of mind of the time.
page 6721, letters from Nany to Jean Hausermann of 1936
page 6722, letter from Dad to Nany 16 September 36 (image of the original draft)
Page 6723, letter from Dad to good mom, October 16th 36, (original draft)
page 6724, letter from Gabriel Dessus to the Cordelle3 October 1936
Page 6725, letter from Papa to Nany, September 30, 1936, (original draft)
page 6726, 1936 - Europe, François, Michel, the Chedals
page 672, 1936 - Vierville the four boys and Brigitte
In 1937 at Rosario, the harbour was normally See page 673, construction sites1936 and 1937,
In January, 37 page 6731 - Holidays in Riachuelo and page 6732, 1937 -, the beach
Page 6733, 1937, life in Rosario
The parents Cordelle brought their 2 great children, François and Michel in July 37 by the English ship "Alcantara"
to spend the holidays in Rosario
with them.
page 6741, 1937 - In France, preparing children's journey
page 6742, Rosario, July-August
1937, stay of François and Michel, excursions on the rio, horse club San Marti, chacra Benitez.
page 6751, Rosario, preparation of Simone and Yves's trip to France
page 6752, trip to France
"Massilia" François and Michel were accompanied by Simone Cordelle and Yves who then spent three months in France, 3rd round trip to France for Yves who was 7 years old. Stopover to Lisbon, among other things, arriving in Bordeaux.
The stay in France was the occasion to see Nany, Bonne-Maman, the Dupuis, the Jennys, and the Dessus, all in Paris. page 6753, stay France by Simone and Yves
When Simone and Yves returned to Argentina, in December 37 (on board the mixed cargo ship "Formose", the Chargers Reunited), François and Michel stayed in Paris and settled at their other grandmother, Bonne-Maman, at 6 B.C. Dode de la Brunerie, (Porte de Saint Cloud).
See page 6754, the letters of Nany of 1937, because the Hausermanns had stayed in Argentina.
Page 676, 1937 - the Hausermanns
in Rosario
On the return of Mom and Yves, again from the common holidays beginning 38 at the Riachuelo:
page 6811, 1938 - at the Riachuelo
then life in Rosario: page 6812, 1938 in Rosario
page 6813, 1938 - The Hausermanns, beginning 38 in Rosario
In the summer of 38 Hausermann came to France:
page 682, in Vierville in summer 1938,
Meanwhile, François and Michel left France in July to spend their great holidays in Rosario. page 6831, leaving François and Michel Marseilles on the Florida.
This was the occasion of trips to the surrounding areas:page 6832, François and Michel in Rosario Club San Martin, work of the port, trip to Santa Fe, Victoria, Paranà
and back to Rosario on a balsa (a large flat-bottom barge).
Finally at the beginning of September 38, before the departure of François and Michel, a trip to TucumánThis time Yves was big enough to follow: page 6833, 1938 - Travel Tucumàn
The Two seniors left for France in September 38 on the ??
page 6834, life in Rosario at the end of 1938
page 6835, the harbour of Rosario in 1938
page 6851, Paris 1938-39
See Nany's letters for 1938, page 6852
In Paris in 1938-39, François and Michel were still at Bonne-Maman'sThey saw their cousins Chedal (27 avenue de Lamballe) and Dupuis (2 avenue Dode de la Brunerie), going out to Fontainebleau, seeing their friends Delapisse, Puireux and others.
Yvonne Bidel married André Liébaut.
See page 6853, the letter of Gabrile Dessus of 27 March 38 on the domestic and foreign political situation, useful for understanding what is often referred to by Nany.
In Argentina, at the beginning of the year 39 the Cordelle spent the holidays in Riachuelo,
see page 6841, 1939 - Summer Austral, holidays in Riachuelo,
Then in April, the Cordelle parents went with Yves, travel in Patagonia (Lago Nahuel Huapi) in San Carlos de Bariloche, LLao-Llao hotel, founded in the Andes by a Swiss, at Nahuel Huapi, 2000 km of train and q uarante-eight hours of train journey, in the dust of a flat and stony steppe, with the spectacle of some nandous (ostriches d'Amérique) and some antelope. After this desert, we arrived in a Swiss climate, a Swiss landscape, mountains, glaciers, forests, contact of snow the first time for Yves, a large hotel "Llao Llao" created by Swiss. Today San Carlos de Bariloche became a crowded, rich and fashionable mountain resort, where we go on plane.
page 6842, March 1939 - Trip to Nahuel-Huapi Lago 1
page 6843, March 1939 - Trip to Nahuel-Huapi Lago 2
page 6844, Rosario 1939
In June-July 1939, the Cordelles left Argentina by the mixed cargo ship "Belle-Isle" (always the Reunited Chargers), happy to return to France After 11 years of South America, the war threatened Europe, almost certain for everyone, given Hitler's ambitions.
In France, the four greats (Philippe, Jean-Pierre, François and Michel) went to Vierville for every holiday period and they had many activities. Cycling trips in the surrounding area, Grandcamp, peak of Hoc, Colleville, friends on the beach, a horse (Pommon, then replaced by Muscadet) at the castle, a Canadian canoe, soon followed by a second built on plans.
see Page 690, Vierville in winter 1939
see page 691, Vierville, various excursions, Spring 39
see page 692, Vierville, at the castle, Spring 39
see Page 693, Vierville and
the Muscadet horse, Spring 39
And these are the letters from Nany to Jean Hausermann, in various times:
page 6901, letters from January and February 39
page 6902, letters from March, April and May 39
page 6903, letters of June 39
page 6904, letters from July and August 39
see page 694, Vierville, construction of a canoesummer 39
see Page 695, Vierville, sailing on canoesSeptember 39
see page 696, Tourism in Normandy summer 39
Jean, Simone and Yves arrived in France in July 1939The parents bought a Peugeot 402 B, the latest model, with an electromagnetic gearbox, the latest. the war occurred on 1 September. It was no longer a question of returning to Paris, evacuated to the maximum. We were mainly afraid of bombings in Paris and a war of murderous position, style 1914-18, around the lines Maginot and Siegfried.
see Page 697, Vierville in August and September 1939