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903277

Title
Henri Lemasson papers relating to the bombardment of Papeete, Tahiti, 22 September 1914, and notes made by L. Donier, 30 April 1931
Creator
Henri Lemasson, 1870-1956
Level of description
fonds
Date

22 September 1914; 30 April 1931
Type of material
Textual Records
Reference code
903277
Issue Copy
Digitised : 2014
Physical Description
0.05 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript, typescript, carbon typescript
ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Henry Lemasson was a French Postal and Telecommunications civil servant who was sent to Tahiti in 1895 to become head of the Papeete Post Office from 1895 to 1904 and again from 1912-1920. He also was an amateur photographer whose photographs were chosen to illustrate the first series of stamps created by the French Oceanic Settlement. He met Paul Gauguin in 1895, photographing his hut in Punaauia and his sculptures and they made excursions together in the Tahitian countryside.

He was in Tahiti on 22 September 1914 when the two German Navy ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst bombarded Papeete and destroyed the Post office.

Dornier was an official in the civil administration of Papeete and was also present during the bombardment. Lemasson's and Dornier's accounts of the episode in these documents were written in the context of political conflict between the military and civil administration of Papeete: see Conflits pouvoir politique / pouvoir militaire, l’exemple de Tahiti (août-décembre 1914), at http://centenaire.org/fr/print/3271 , which mentions Lemasson.
Collection history
Purchased as Lot 184 at auction: Tahiti et la Polynésie française, 1768-1964 : lettres, manuscrits et documents depuis les premières missions, rares impressions polynésiennes, importantes lettres autographes de Paul Gauguin, livres et autographes de Pierre Loti et illustrations pour ses oeuvres : vente aux enchères publiques à Paris, le 2 Juin 1969. Catalogue is located at 996.2016/1A1. A note on file by Suzanne Mourot, Associate Mitchell Librarian, 28 August 1972, states "There is no indication in the catalogue as to the provenance of the documents; however, it is known to be the collection of Andre Ropiteau continued by Father Patrick O'Reilly and is for short referred to by collectors and historians as the sale of the Ropiteau-O'Reilly collection."
Scope and Content
Henri Lemasson account of the bombardment of Papeete by two German Navy ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst with plan of Papeete and notes, 22 September 1914, and notes made by L. Donier, 30 April 1931
Language
French
Copying Conditions
Copyright status:: In copyright
Research & study copies allowed: Author has been deceased for more than 50 years
Copyright holder:: State Library of New South Wales
Rights and Restrictions Information:: No publication without prior written approval of copyright holder
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
General note

State Library of New South Wales collection of World War I papers
Microfilm located at CY 4951, frames 1061 - 1095
Digital order no:Album ID : 1023877
Name
Scharnhorst (ship)
Gneisenau (ship)
Subject
World War, 1914-1918--Naval operations, German.
World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, French.
Place
Papeete (Tahiti)
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IE264540