The Jolivet de Colomby family

Among the predominantly bourgeois and working-class list of tenants recorded at 34 boulevard de Clichy between 1926 and 1936, one name stands out: Jolivet de Colomby, the only aristocratic family identified for the period. The 1931 census lists three members at this address — Juliette, Gérard and Bernard. The building most likely served them as a Parisian apartment — a common practice among provincial nobility who maintained an address in the capital for social life, their children's higher education, or business affairs.

An ancient Norman nobility

The family's ancient line is documented in Lower Normandy, around Caen and the Calvados. In the 18th century, Nicolas Anne Jolivet de Colomby († 1758), seigneur of Colomby and royal counsellor, was a doctor and royal professor of law at the University of Caen; he married Marie Scelles. His son, Pierre Jean Nicolas Jolivet de Colomby († 1780), is recorded as Viscount of Colomby. The family thus combined judicial, academic and Norman landholding functions — a typical trajectory of the Ancien Régime's robe nobility.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Jolivet de Colomby family figures among the notables of Caen freemasonry. Academic work published by the University Press of Rouen and Le Havre lists them among members of Caen's most prestigious lodges — Thémis and the Constante Amitié — alongside families such as the Le Sens de Lion or the Louvel de Janville. The family remains strongly associated with several Norman properties, including the Château de Barou-en-Auge (Calvados), also known as the Château de Colomby, and a historic tile works.

A Béarnais branch in the 19th century — Château de Baliros

In the 19th century, a branch of the family settled in Béarn. Jules Adrien Jolivet de Colomby (1834-1901), born in Paris, married in 1868 Marie Julie Victoire Georgette du Pré de Saint-Maur. He died at the Château de Baliros (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), a commune located 12 km from Pau and 7 km from Nay, on the left bank of the gave. His daughter, Marie Charlotte Ermessinde Élisabeth Jolivet de Colomby (1873-1943), was born at Baliros and married there in 1895 Jacques Marie Didier des Hays de Gassart.

Notable known members

• Nicolas Anne Jolivet de Colomby († 1758) — seigneur of Colomby, royal counsellor, royal professor of law at Caen, husband of Marie Scelles.
• Pierre Jean Nicolas Jolivet de Colomby († 1780) — Viscount of Colomby.
• Nicolas Hippolyte Jolivet de Colomby (1767-1851) — squadron commander.
• Jules Adrien Jolivet de Colomby (1834-1901) — baron, born in Paris, died at the Château de Baliros.
• Pierre Jolivet de Colomby (b. 1870) — Baron of Colomby.
• Marie Charlotte Ermessinde Élisabeth (1873-1943) — born and died at Baliros, married in 1895 to Jacques Marie Didier des Hays de Gassart.
• Bernard (Mary Bernard) Jolivet de Colomby (1909-2003) — baron, mayor of Barou-en-Auge from 1938. He is most likely the “Bernard” recorded at age 22 in the 1931 census of 34 boulevard de Clichy.

The three first names from the 1931 census

Of the three first names recorded at no. 34 — Juliette, Gérard and Bernard — only Bernard can be identified with reasonable certainty: he is most likely Bernard Jolivet de Colomby (1909-2003), future baron and mayor of Barou-en-Auge from 1938. Juliette and Gérard may have been his parents, guardians, or relatives staying in their Parisian pied-à-terre. A Gérard Jolivet de Colomby file is also held at the Calvados departmental archives (war damage to chattels), suggesting an active link with the family's Norman estate at least until World War II.

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