The Panckoucke clan: professional strategy and social ascent in a Lille family in the time of enlightenment

Between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the Panckoucke family covered the social distance that separated servants from influential notability. With a large family, regularly reinforced by heritage alliances, the “Clan Panckoucke” is gradually consolidating its position in Lille, both in the world of bookstores and merchant-traders. The exercise of honorary charges and then of positions of power within the institutions of commerce (Mint, Court and Chamber of Commerce) and Freemasonry in Lille ensured it unparalleled visibility on the eve of the French Revolution. Beyond the stages of this ascent, this article proposes to analyze a family strategy successfully implemented.