Joseph Coen Bacri

A banker, trader, and communal leader, Joseph was born in Algiers. He founded the Bacri Freres firm which played a significant role in Algerian politics for fifty years. The firm was an important wheat supplier to France during the Napoleonic period. In 1811, after the execution on a charge of treason of his son David, who had been active manager of the firm for several years, Joseph reassumed the management of the firm’s affairs and was appointed leader of the Algerian Jewish community by the dey. However, in 1816, the dey confiscated his possessions and banished him from Algiers. According to other sources, he fled because of the anti- Jewish atmosphere. Bacri died in poverty in Leghorn.