Jacques Français (violin maker)

Jacques Français (born July 3, 1923 in Paris ; † February 4, 2004 ) was a French violin maker and expert.

Français came from a family whose tradition as violin makers, restorers and dealers can be traced back over 200 years. His paternal grandfather, Henri Français , was an official violin maker at the Paris Conservatory , while his maternal grandfather, Albert Caressa , was a violin and cello dealer. The Caressa & Français house in Paris was founded in 1938 and closed in 1981 after the death of his mother Lucile Français . Here he began his training at the age of twelve. At the age of eighteen he studied with the violin maker Victor Aubry and later with George Apparut in Mirecourt.

He then worked in his father's shop, Emile Français, and for Fridolin Hamma in Stuttgart. During the Second World War he belonged to the French ski troops and took part in the occupation of Vienna. In 1947 he came to New York for the first time and worked under the guidance of Simone Sacconi at Rembert Wurlitzer . In 1949 he opened his own shop ( Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. ) on 57th Street in Manhattan near Carnegie Hall , where he restored and sold rare old violins. His expertise was also in demand when it came to identifying counterfeit instruments.

In 1971 he brought an exhibition of old French violins to the Lincoln Center , which was last shown at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris and the USA. In 1985 he succeeded in restoring an ensemble of two violins, a viola and a cello that Antonio Stradivari had built for joint performances, but whose instruments had been sold separately. In 1996 he sold Emanuel Feuermann's cello, also a Stradivari instrument. The Smithsonian Institution holds a collection of certificates and photos of his instruments .

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personal data
SURNAME	Français, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French violin maker and expert
DATE OF BIRTH	July 3, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	February 4, 2004