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MERMOZ Jean L.A.S. ‘Jean’, Buenos Aires, 30 January 1928, to his ‘Beloved Mum’; 2 pages in-4 and 2 pages in-8 on Aeroposta Argentina letterhead. Launch of the Aeropostale route between France and South America. He once again sends her his ‘most tender and affectionate wishes for the New Year. May it keep you safe and happy for me, and may the certainty that I love you very much ease the pain of this new separation. Here, to be honest, I don’t have time to get bored. I’ve got a mad amount of work on top of the trips I take from time to time. I’m in charge of everything – administration, construction, the running and operation of the postal service, staff recruitment, and so on; in short, I spend my days at the office. It’s a huge sacrifice for me, but I’m making it at the moment because we need to pool all our energies to succeed here, and since I’m apparently needed…! Fortunately, I’ll soon be making a regular trip every eight days, which will help me cope with the tedium of the sedentary work that, all things considered, I’ve imposed on myself. The Operations Director [Didier Daurat] relies entirely on me here. He’s been in Buenos Aires recently and treats me as a full partner. I have no cause for complaint on that front. But I am, naturally, the subject of quite a bit of jealousy. Fortunately, I know how to stand up for myself and no longer hesitate to fight back as soon as I’m pushed into a corner. I’m doing everyone a favour. I never seek personal gain, always speaking in the general interest, so I don’t have to put up with the nastiness of people who imagine that everyone else is like them’... He mentions an ‘accident that happened near Montevideo to a colleague’, caused by ‘a part that was probably sawn off unintentionally during assembly in Toulouse. Our aircraft are sturdy, and this is the first time such a thing has happened on the route in nine years. Here, it made a terrible impression. – The competition in Brazil and here is seizing on the matter as if it were only natural. It’s a very bad start. What’s more, our aircraft take an age to arrive from France and we have to pull off real feats to ensure the mail is delivered regularly. The ships are arriving twenty days late and we’re short of equipment. So we’re redoubling our efforts and our work; it’s a difficult period that will be hard to get through, but one which I hope we’ll manage to overcome. I met up with all the Uruguayans at the funeral of our two comrades from Montevideo. They were lovely. And yet, in Europe, people hardly realise that there is a real little corner of France in South America, such as Uruguay, with its absolutely charming natural surroundings and atmosphere. It was a genuine national mourning when news of the accident broke. […] Larre Borges is planning a Montevideo–Paris flight next September. Perhaps I’ll be part of it? He’ll sort it out. You can bet I’d be delighted. I’m setting off sometime in February for Tierra del Fuego […] to survey the terrain for a future route”… He then responds to remarks made by his mother’s patients: “Those communists really do have some outrageous outbursts! […] how utterly foolish these good people can be! […] There are certainly some forms of misery that are interesting, but so many that are not! Besides, I don’t believe they act this way out of malice, but purely on principle. The Cause, isn’t it? Always with a capital C. What a wretched policy and what sinister diplomats! […] If tuberculosis sufferers are now getting involved in politics, they might as well form a trade union forbidding anyone from treating them once the eight-hour day is over, and, for heaven’s sake, go on sick strike, several days a week if need be! Where on earth are we heading in France if the Soviets are organising themselves in hospitals? And why not in cemeteries as well! »… Enclosed: – another unpublished letter ‘Jean’, Buenos Aires, 3 February 1928, to ‘Dear Mum’ (half-page in-4 on Compagnie Générale d’Entreprises Aéronautiques letterhead), accompanying the posting of a cheque. “I’d forgotten to tell you that our international section doesn’t open until 1 March. This means we won’t be able to communicate any more quickly before March”… – Plus a cable and a telegram of New Year’s greetings (1 January 1928). Correspondence, nos. 134, 135 and 132. Source: - Jean Mermoz (1901–1936); - Gabrielle Gillet-Mermoz (1880–1955); - Passed down through the family
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About the sale Historical Memories
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Auction time 11/03/2026 at 11:00 AM
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