The Javal family originated in Alsace. They benefited from Napoleon I's policy of openness toward Jews, and in the nineteenth century experienced a remarkable ascent, with family members becoming prominent bankers, industrialists, physicians, public officials and artists. In the twentieth century, the name Javal was equal in prestige with those of Pereira, Fould, and Rothschild.
The family fortune began to accumulate with the authorization in 1808 of the Javal brothers (both named Jacques, and called respectively Jacques Javal the Elder and Jacque Javal the Younger) to operate a spinning mill at Mulhouse.
The family surname was originally Jacob, and was changed to Javal by decree of 20 July 1808.
Cerf Herschel Jacob (became Javal in 1808) (1751-1819), merchant at Seppois-le-Bas x (1) : Hindel Juda Blum │ ├──> Jacques Javal the Elder │ x Claire Schöngrun (died in 1822) │ │ │ └──> Joseph Javal ( -1844) │ x Julie Javal │ ├──> Jacques Javal the Younger ( -1858) │ x Lucie Blumenthal │ │ │ ├──> Julie Javal │ │ x Joseph Javal ( -1844) │ │ │ └──> Léopold Javal (1804-1872), banker, agronomist, republican deputy of Yonne │ x (22 July 1838) Augusta de Laemel (1817-1893) │ │ │ ├──> Louis Émile Javal (1839-1907), ophthalmologist, deputy of Yonne │ │ x (30 July 1867) : Maria-Anna Ellissen (1847-1933) │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Alice Javal (1869-1943) │ │ │ x (23 May 1882) Lazare Weiller (1858-1928), industrialist, senator of Bas-Rhin │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Jean-Pierre Weiller (1890- ?) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Marie-Thérèse Weiller (1890- ?) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Georges-André Weiller (1892- ?) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──> Paul-Louis Weiller (1893-1993), industrialist and financier │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Jeanne Félicie Javal (1871- ?) │ │ │ x Paul Louis Weiss (1867-1945), engineer │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Louise Weiss (1893-1983), journalist and politician │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Emile Jean Jacques Weiss (1894-1987), inspector of finances │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> André Eugène Paul Weiss (1899-1950), prefect │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Francis Weiss │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──> Marie Jenny Emilie Weiss (1903-1987), pediatrician and psychoanalyst │ │ │ x Alexandre Roudinesco │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──> Élisabeth Roudinesco (1944-), historian and psychoanalyst │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Jean Javal (1871-1915), engineer, deputy of Yonne │ │ │ x Lily Lévy (1882-1958), writer │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Louis Adolphe Javal (1873-1944), professor of medicine │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──> │ │ │ │ } 2 daughters died in a concentration camp │ │ │ ├──> │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──> Léopold Javal │ │ │ │ │ └──> Mathilde Julie Javal (1876-1944) │ │ │ │ │ ├──> Pauline Javal (1842- ?) │ │ x Jean Théodore de Salemfelds, officer in the army of Austria-Hungary │ │ │ ├──> Ernest Javal (1843-1897), prefect of La Creuse │ │ x Marie Seligmann │ │ │ ├──> Eugène Javal (1846-1847) │ │ │ ├──> Alfred Javal (1848-1921), engineer and industrialist │ │ │ └──> Sophie Javal (1853-1947) │ x (1878) : Paul Wallerstein (died in 1903), engineer │ │ ├──> 2 other sons │ │ │ x (2) : Keyle Felix