Lucien Durrieux

1906–1984

Born: 9 Feb 1906, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Country of birth: France
Died: 15 Nov 1984, Cambo-les-Bains

facts: 7
sources: 1
images and files: 0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

Birth9 Feb 1906, Saint-Jean-Cap-FerratProbable1 source
Death15 Nov 1984, Cambo-les-BainsProbable1 source
ParentLeopold II of BelgiumConfirmed1 source
ParentCaroline LacroixConfirmed1 source

A life in time

9 Feb 1906
Born · Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Birth, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
15 Nov 1984
Died · Cambo-les-Bains
Death, Cambo-les-Bains

What was it like?

The world around Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, 1906: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Lucien was born around the same time as Jean-Paul Sartre, Katharine Hepburn, and John Wayne.

Born around the same time

Jean-Paul Sartre
1905 · French existentialist philosopher (1905–1980)
Katharine Hepburn
1907 · American actress (1907–2003)
John Wayne
1907 · American actor (1907–1979)
Greta Garbo
1905 · Swedish-American actress (1905–1990)
Angelo Schiavio
1905 · Italian footballer (1905-1990)
Frida Kahlo
1907 · Mexican painter (1907–1954)

Fashion

Alsatian folk dress used on political parades

In Alsace, traditional Tracht was tied to religious occasions like weddings and first communions, but it later became common at political rallies; when Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Strasbourg in 1877, women were greeted in Tracht. The text also describes how the costume’s symbolism shifted with politics over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The decline of the worker's blouse

By the early 1900s, the traditional working man's blouse had largely disappeared in Paris, replaced by disparate outfits of jackets, vests, and trousers worn with caps. Workers often saved their best suits for Sundays and holidays, featuring accessories like bowler hats, cravats, and patent leather shoes.

Music

Instruments of the Paris Bal Musette

In the early 20th century, the cabrette, a small bagpipe, was the signature instrument of Parisian bal musette, but it was gradually joined or replaced by the accordion introduced by Italian immigrants.

Around 1914–1918

Children Singing in Wartime Shelters

During wartime, children in a shelter spontaneously sang together to overcome fear, with over 300 voices joining in songs like Au Clair de la lune. These songs were part of a shared national repertoire learned in families and schools.

Getting around

Dim train lighting required portable candles

Trains were so dimly lit that passengers wanting to read had to bring their own portable candlesticks.

Train vendors moved between carriages via footboards

Traveling by train was often an adventure, with vendors known as swallows selling goods like perfume and cognac while moving between compartments via exterior footboards.

Daily life

Compulsory schooling and literacy

By 1900, free and compulsory primary education created a new generation of literate children who often acted as cultural mediators for their illiterate parents and grandparents.

Lighting, water, and cooking at home

In 1900, many families still used oil lamps for lighting and drew water from communal pumps or wells, while city apartments often featured small charcoal furnaces for cooking at a low cost.

Food

Around 1900–1900

Cheap and Fast Street Food

Fried potatoes were a popular and affordable street food, often described as a hunger stopper for workers on the go. Vendors also sold soup, with the seller providing the bowl to customers eating on the street.

Tax-free home distillation privileges

Between 1875 and 1914, French peasants had a legal privilege to distill part of their own wine, cider, or fruit harvest into spirits without paying any taxes or needing declarations.

Prices and wages

Around 1900–1900

Parisian Food Prices in 1900

In Paris in 1900, bread cost 38 centimes per kilogram, while beef was priced at 1.80 francs per kilogram and a liter of milk cost 30 centimes.

Around 1910–1925

Rising Bread Prices 1910–1925

The price of a kilogram of bread in Paris rose from 0.39 francs in 1910 to 1.58 francs by 1925.

Work

Common Jobs in France, 1900–1924

Common jobs included industrial roles for men and women, such as mechanics, carpenters, and laborers, while the service sector featured many domestic workers, concierges, and shop assistants. Clothing and textile trades, including tailoring and dressmaking, were major employers for women.

Hazards and Wage Inequalities

Industrial dangers were severe; for example, workers handling lead or arsenic were warned to wash their hands before eating their lunch to avoid poisoning. Additionally, women often earned only half the wages of men, even when performing identical tasks.

News and letters

Parisian pneumatic mail system delivered in minutes

Paris residents could send urgent messages across the city in under an hour using a pneumatic tube system, known as 'petits bleus' for their blue color.

Around 1879–1899

Pneumatic tube mail delivery in Paris

In Paris, ordinary people could send messages via an underground pneumatic tube network using pre-stamped blue forms called petits bleus, which typically arrived in under an hour.

During their lifetime

1921
Public radio broadcasting starts in 1921
Public radio broadcasting officially began in France in 1921, with regular programs transmitted from an antenna atop the Eiffel Tower.
1944
Women gain voting rights in 1944
In October 1944, a government ordinance finally granted women the right to vote in France.
1950
Creation of the minimum wage
In 1950, the government established the minimum wage (SMIG) to improve workers' purchasing power.
1956
Third week of paid vacation
In 1956, French workers were granted a third week of paid vacation, significantly increasing their leisure time.
1967
Legalization of the contraceptive pill
The 1967 Neuwirth Law legalized the contraceptive pill, allowing women greater control over family planning.
1975
Legalization of abortion
The 1975 Veil Law legalized abortion in France under specific circumstances, marking a major shift in women's rights.

Family

Parents

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.