JAIME PARTAGAS Y RABELL- FOUNDER OF LA FLOR DE TABACOSDE PARTAGaS Y COMPAniA

FOUNDER OF LA FLOR DE TABACOS DE PARTAGÁS Y COMPAÑÍA

ARENYS DE MAR IS A COASTAL town in Catalonia, about 40 kilometers from Barcelona and home to an important port on the Mediterranean Sea. This is where the tailor Jaime Partagás Gras wed Teresa Rabell Pallarola in 1815. Their firstborn son, Jaime, was born here on December 7, 1816, followed by a brother, Sebastián, two years later. It is unknown whether the father aspired for one of his sons to follow in his footsteps into the family trade, or if there were one or more occasions on which he spoke to them about a land where, as it was told, pure gold was used to pave streets and roof the houses. The truth is that the firstborn son, Jaime Partagás y Rabell, at just 14 years of age, surprised everyone by setting sail on July 29, 1831, and heading to “Cubita la Bella”, the dreamt-of Havana, in order to “make it in America”, a goal sought after by many at the time.

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