Claude Marchal, founder and former president of the French Association
des Amis des Instruments de Musique Mecanique (AAIMM), passed away in
Switzerland on Sunday, January 26th, 1997, after a short illness.
He was 69.

In Paris he earned a degree as an electrical engineer, and he was a member
of the famous Marchal industrial family, who manufacture automobile
electrical equipment, the firm's "black cat" emblem symbolizing lights
for seeing in the dark.

He and his wife Solange were interested in art and culture, and soon
specialized in collecting good automatic musical instruments, especially
from the early periods : rare music boxes, mechanical organs of the
Davrainville type, etc., but also musical pictures, musical clocks and
actually every type of mechanical musical instrument which would fit
their home, including a Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina.

He was a member for a long time of several foreign associations,
including the MBSI.  When Etienne Blyelle returned from the 25th Silver
Anniversary meeting of the MBSI in New York, they decided in December
1974, with several other collectors, to create a French association of
collectors parallel to the English and the American ones.  (Also among
the founders was the famous dealer Alain Vian, who died in 1995.)

The first "Assemblee generale" with 48 people took place on June 29th,
1975, in Claude Marchal's house in Le Vesinet, near Paris, and a journal
was soon published.  Claude Marchal remained president for several years
and greatly expanded the association, until his retirement from Paris to
Bullet (Sainte-Croix, Switzerland), near his very good friend Michel
Bertrand, the well-known restorer and maker of automatas.  He continued
collecting, and was for 6 years a member of the board of directors of
Reuge, the Swiss maker of modern music boxes.

A keen collector of everything related to the Boy Scout movement, he
created in 1984 the Musee Scout Marchal in his home.  He was also a
recognized specialist of the study of the Holy Shroud of Turin (Santa
Sindone), a length of linen purported to be the burial garment of Jesus
Christ, and preserved in the cathedral of Turin (Torino, Italy).

Claude Marchal was essentially very nice and gentle man.  With his wife,
Solange, he always welcomed with great courteousness visitors from all
over the world in their home in Switzerland, where most of his collection
stayed, or in their Parisian residence.

To his wife, and to his family, we offer our condolences.

Philippe Rouille¶
Paris, France