Osiris (1825-1907). Donor and patron of Malmaison

French language

Totally forgotten nowadays but very famous at his death in 1907, Daniel Iffla, born in Bordeaux into a modest Jewish family, had taken the name Osiris in 1861 for reasons that still escape us. Having become one of the richest financiers of the 1880s, he was torn between extreme discretion in his private life and a great need for official recognition for his generous actions.

A convinced Napoleonian, he saved the Château de Malmaison from probable destruction in 1896 by buying it at auction.

Subsequently, he undertook its restoration to offer it to the State as a museum relating to the Napoleonic era.

In 1906, he also donated his personal collection of works of art with a sum sufficient for the construction of a pavilion to house it. Opened in 1924, the pavilion was completely renovated in 2010.