R. Pabiou – 1952-1957 (estimated)
The fencing sword company R. Pabiou was first seen by Benjamin Arms in the magazine L’Escrime Francais. Advertisements for this firm start appearing in the January, 1952 issue of L’Escrime Francaise and run until the February 1958 edition. The company’s advertised motto was “Tout pour l’Escrime” (All for Fencing) and was located at 29 rue Georges Clemenceau in Paris.
Further research into this company name yielded the man Régis Pabiou, graduate of Prytanée National Militaire and École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, recipient of the Croix de Guerre and Bronze Stare, and commandant of the Légion d’honneur. Régis is most notable to Benjamin Arms, though, for giving up his military profession in 1957 and purchasing the fencing supply company Prieur, which is still in operation today1. At the time Régis purchased Prieur he was the only worker and occasionally conscripted his son, Frédéric, to help him on days Frédéric had off from school. Upon Régis’ death on May 16th, 1971 there was no new buyer for the Prieur business and Frédéric, like his father before him, quit his profession to continue the fencing business2. Frédéric Pabiou ran Prieur for approximately 35 years and passed away on May 13th, 20173.
Connecting R. Pabiou with Regis Pabiou
In Régis’ obituary it was said that his personal motto was “Tout pour l’Escrime“, the same as the advertised motto of the company R. Pabiou in the 1950s. Advertisements for the company R. Pabiou also discontinue after 1957, the date that Prieur was purchased by Regis. Further evidence is needed but it’s likely that Régis Pabiou was the man behind the company R. Pabiou in the 1950s.
RP Makers Mark
This is where research into R. Pabiou and Regis started. Vintage fencing swords with a mark “RP” or sometimes appearing as “RR” (first described to Benjamin Arms as “double R blades”) are occasionally found in the market. These blades are usually marked “Made in France” but often bear no other markings making them difficult to source. It’s possible these RP fencing swords could be attributed to R. Pabiou and were manufactured between 1952 and 1958, but as of yet there is no definite link between the mark and the company.
1 In Memoriam… M. Regis Pabiou. L’Escrime Francais. No. 257. Semptembre-Octobre 1971. Fédération Française d’Escrime.
2 Ducoin, Jean-Emmanuel. “Frédéric s’escrime sur les lames des champions.” l’Humanité. December 27, 1993. https://www.humanite.fr/node/70411
3 “Décès de Frédéric Pabiou.” Fédération Française d’Escrime. May 16, 2017. http://www.escrime-ffe.fr/carnets/deces-de-frederic-pabiou