Egyptian Pedigrees: The Suares Family, by M.L.Bierbrier

The suares family came to Egypt from Leghorn in the early part of the nineteenth century. The brothers Isaac and Menahem Suares della Pegna are described in the Montefiore Census of Alexandria in 1840 as among the most important individuals in the Jewish Community. They were involved in banking and commerce but had recently suffered business reverses and losses due to government exactions. About 1875 Joseph, Felix and Raphaël Suares, sons of Isaac, established the "Maison de Banque Suares Frères et Cie" in Cairo which continued until 1906, helping to finance land development, railways and the water supply. Joseph's sons founded the "Commercial Bank of Egypt Ltd", while Felix's son Léon served as a director of the "National Bank". Edgar Suares, a descendant of Menahem, had his own bank in Alexandria and his son Carlo was a well known author on Eastern philosophy. There were various other Suares families in Egypt, who cannot as yet be connected to the main pedigree. Another branch from Leghorn settled in Marseille and included the author and poet André Suares (1868-1948).

I would like to thank Mrs E. Hargreaves née Suares for informations on her family. Previously published accounts of the family appear in the Encyclopaedia Judaïca, corrected ed. 15, 466-7, K. Grunwald, "On Cairo's Lombard Street" Tradition 17 (1972), 13-16, and G. Kramer, The Jews in Modern Egypt 1914-1952 (London, 1989), 39-41.

Asterisks next to the family names in the pedigree indicate that a detailed pedigree of that family is in the author's possession.

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