The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aix Marseille Provence (CCIAMP), originally known as the Marseille Chamber of Commerce, later as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marseille Provence (CCIMP), is the oldest Chamber of Commerce in the world, established in 1599. The Marseille Chamber also invented the phrase "Chamber of Commerce." According to the Chamber, it was originally created to protect French merchant vessels from Piracy in the Mediterranean. However, the City Council briefly abolished the Chamber in the mid-1600's, during The Fronde, in a failed uprising of the nobility against the King. In 1660, after Louis XIV laid siege to the city and invaded it, occupying the city for 5 days, he re-certified the Chamber. During the French Revolution, the Chamber – along with every other Chamber in France – was again abolished, but was reestablished in 1802. Today, it is a participant of the Council of Europe initiative Routes of the Olive Tree.
Originally, the institution was housed in the Palais Communal. Later it moved to the Hôtel de Ville. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was headquartered in a temporary building at the Place Général de Gaulle. In 1852, the architect Pascal Coste was selected to build the Palais de Bourse et Commerce, inaugurated on September 10, 1860 by Napoleon III and Eugénie de Montijo. The building, also known as the Marseille Stock Exchange Building, has been the headquarters of the CCIAMP ever since.
Presidents of the Chamber Before 1832, Chamber presidents were rotated on a weekly basis, and therefore, while their names are recorded in the Chamber's archives (one of the largest business history archives in the world), they are not presently kept on public display. Presidents following 1832 are displayed with portraits lining the central staircase of the Marseille Stock Exchange Building. 1832-1837: Alexis-Joseph Rostand 1837-1838: Auguste Lafon 1838-1842: Wulfran Puget 1842-1843: Élysée Reynard 1843-1845: Bruno Rostand 1844-1845: Alexander Warrain 1845-1847: Lazare Luce 1847-1849: David Rabaud 1849-1852: Fabricius Paranque 1852-1866: Jean-Baptiste Pastré 1866-1872: Amédée Armand 1872-1875: Jules Gimmig 1875-1881: Alphonse Grandval 1881-1891: Cyprien Fabre 1891-1901: Augustin Féraud 1901-1905: Léopold Le Mée de La Salle 1905-1909: Paul Desbief 1909-1911: Lucien Estrine 1911-1913: Albert Armand 1913-1919: Adrien Artaud 1920-1923: Hubert Giraud 1924-1927: Emile Rastoin 1928-1929: Edgar David 1930-1931: George Brenier 1932-1933: Maurice Hubert 1934-1937: Felix Prax 1937-1941: Antoine Boude 1941-1944: Émile Régis 1944-1947: Charles Mourre 1948-1949: André Cordesse 1950-1951: Édouard Rastoin 1952-1953: Marcel Rogliano 1954-1955: Francis Dufour 1956-1959: Pierre Keller 1960-1963: Léon Bétous 1963-1967: Émile Blachette 1967-1970: Maurice Chabas 1971-1974: Pierre Blum 1974-1977: Jacques Deguignes 1977-1979: André Touret 1980-1982: Paul Fabre 1983-1987: Henri Mercier 1987-1988: Albert Bourdillon 1988-1991: François Le Bars 1992-1997: Henry Roux-Alezais 1998-2003: Claude Cardella 2004-2016: Jacques Pfister Since 2016: Jean-Luc Chauvin
References