Jacques Bénazet

Jean Jacques Bénazet (born December 3, 1778 in Foix , † March 13, 1848 in Paris ) was a French entrepreneur in Baden-Baden .

Jacques Bénazet was the son of a farrier; he studied law in Bordeaux and practiced as a lawyer for some time. By marrying into a shipowner's family in Bordeaux, he achieved social prestige. He became one of the three gambling overseers in the Palais Royal and co- tenant of ten casinos , including the luxurious Frascati and the Cercle de ètrangers. After the French King Louis-Philippe I decided in 1837 to ban gambling in France (the actual closure did not take place until December 31, 1838), Bénazet was forced to look for a new field of activity.

When Antoine Chabert (1774-1850) realized that Bénazet would outbid him in the fight for the extension of the concession for the Casino Baden-Baden (then called Konversationshaus), he cleared the field without a fight and took over the concessions in Hessen-Nassau .

Bénazet increased the attractiveness of Baden-Baden considerably in just a few years: in 1845 he financed part of the branch line from Oos to Baden-Baden and ensured that a gas manufacturer from Lyon was able to build a gas works and operate it until 1871.

On October 9, 1840, the city of Baden-Baden made Jacques Bénazet an honorary citizen .

After Jacques' death, his son Edouard Bénazet (1801–1867) took over the casino in 1848 and arranged for its splendid furnishings in 1855.

literature

• Dr. v. Blaha: Chabert, Benazet and the Blanc brothers, or the secrets of the game of roulette and the German casinos. 2nd edition Grimma, Leipzig [circa 1850] ( K10plus )