Jean Mesplé
Jean Mesplé
1916 (Marseille) – 2002 (Castelnaudary)
Pharmacien
Following his father Paul’s transfer to the Postes, télégraphes et téléphones (P.T.T.) department in New Caledonia in 1929, Jean Mesplé attended the Collège Lapérouse in Nouméa. Introduced to photography on glass plates by his mother, Jeanne Mesplé, he documented their daily life and their excursions around the island using his film cameras. The images he took in the 1930s are now a rare historical record.
On 5 April 1932, the family watched the arrival of the first aeroplane to fly between Paris and New Caledonia.
During his teenage years, Jean undertook several expeditions with his Scout friends, including a motorised trip to the Thio mines.
In 1935, he undertook a work placement at the pharmacy of Nouméa Hospital. In December of that same year, he visited the island of Lifou accompanied by local guides, as part of a First Class Scout trip. He wrote an account of this journey, in which he mentions having removed three skulls from burial caves. His daughter, Geneviève Mesplé, would later take the necessary steps to have them returned, which took place in 2022, and attended the ceremony of forgiveness.
In the spring of 1937, the Mesplé family returned to mainland France, where Jean continued his pharmacy studies in Toulouse. In October 1951, he bought a pharmacy in Castelnaudary and then moved his pharmacy to the Pyrénées-Orientales in 1972. Some of his antique pharmacy equipment was acquired by the museum in 2002.
Jean Mesplé retired in 1985 and died in 2002.
Geneviève Mesplé has carried out extensive research and has entrusted her photographs and archives to the museum for digitisation. This collection is currently part of a project (2025–2027) involving the cataloguing, study and sharing of these documents.
Jean Mesplé regardant l'un des albums photo, négatif souple au gélatino-bromure d'argent format : 4,5 x 6 cm, MHNT.PH.2013.1.47.17
Collections Liées
Mâche-bouchons de la pharmacie de Jean Mesplé - coll. muséum, DRO.2003.1.3
Nageuse sous l'eau, photo. : Jean Mesplé - coll. muséum, MHNT.PH.2013.1.11.12
Passagers le soir à bord, photo. : Jean Mesplé - coll. muséum, MHNT.PH.2013.1.29.104
Archives, étiquettes
Album de Jean Mesplé, 1936 - archives familiales G. Mesplé
Bibliographie
Sources
- Archives familiales et récits de Geneviève Mesplé
Personnes Liées
Photo. d'en-tête : Jean Mesplé regardant l'un des albums photo, négatif souple au gélatino-bromure d'argent format : 4,5 x 6 cm, MHNT.PH.2013.1.47.17
Notice : Anouk Delaître, ingénieure de recherche projet ANR MILPAT (2025 - 2027), Lisa Cocrelle, photothécaire au muséum de Toulouse d'après les informations et la documentation transmise par Geneviève Mesplé.