« Tous ces différents négociants étrangers sont autant des sangsues de la place de Marseille ». Forme di patriottismo in una place marchande fra Sei e Settecento

The mercantile promotion of the “patriotic merchant” has produced uncertain and contradictory results. The meaning of patrie (homeland) is not unambiguous. In the Eighteenth century it may be referred to a town or to different countries – e.g. to the country in which a merchant is based or to his homeland. The governmental attempts to involve foreign merchants among the constructors of public happiness through the commercial growth are quite frequent. In the present essay the case of two groups of foreign merchants based in Marseilles – the long-descending Swiss Protestant Sollicoffre and the newcomers “Genoese” – shows the contradictions of these political measures and the opposite results that might derive. Marseilles, XVIIIth century, foreigners, merchants, homeland