Jewish Martinique

Sephardic Jewish history in Martinique is largely tied to the Bordeaux merchant family of Gradis.

Provisional Timeline for Jews in Martinique

  • 1635: France conquers Martinique.
  • Portuguese Jews settle on the island.
  • 1667: Synagogue established.
  • 1683 or 1685: Jews expelled from Martinique. Some resettled on the Dutch island of Curaçao. Reportedly, some remained on Martinique despite the expulsion order.
  • 1722: David Gradis and his son establish a trading business in St. Pierre, Martinique. Their wealth protected them from discrimination.
  •  1776: The company of David Gradis et fils acquired what became the Habitation Gradis from Mathieu de Prunes du Rivier who was indebted to them.
  • 1789: Jews granted equal rights after the French Revolution.
  • 1790: Assets divided between a David and Moïse Gradis. Moïse gets the plantation but continues to trade as David Gradis et fils
  • 1794: Moïse goes to Philadelphia following the slave revolt in Saint Domingue.
  • 1800-1803 Moïse returns to the island to prevent sequestration of his property by the British occupiers (Napoleonic Wars)
  • 1811: Benjamin Gradis, “Le Jeune”, took over the family business.
  • 1815: Slave trade abolished in name if not in fact.
  • 1840-1841: Victor Schoelcher observes slave breeding incentives on the Gradis estate
  • 1848: Abolition of slavery.
  • 1889: Gradis Factory opened at Basse-Pointe.
  • 1960s and 1970s. Small community established at Fort de France by Jews from France, Algeria and Morocco.

David Gradis – “The Portuguese Merchant”

David Gradis ( -1751) was known as “the Portuguese merchant,” and was a towering figure in French trans-Atlantic trade. He was one of the great merchants from Bordeaux. He exported sugar and indigo, from Cayenne. Martinique and Santo Domingo, and imported alcohol, linen, meal, pickled meat, and wine. His value was such that the French authorities overlooked his Jewishness.

In Martinique the Gradis family owned a property (presumably a slaveholding plantation) in Basse-Pointe where they grew and processed sugar cane.

Samuel Gradis,one of David’s sons, and the family representative at St. Pierre, Martinique, died there in 1732 and was buried in the garden of the Brothers of Mercy.

Sources on the Gradis Family

Can you help support this website?

If you have found this page on Jews in Martinique useful, please consider making a small donation to support this site and my work.

Do you need a professional genealogist to work on your Sephardic genealogy? Click here.