How not to Become a Notable. Leading Marseilles Bourgeois Families Facing Politics (1860-1970) Pierre-Paul Zalio The fact that none of Marseilles' mayor between 1860 and 1970 came from the local entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, is clear evidence of the lack of political strength of this social group during this period. But does this mean that the most powerful bourgeois families of the industrial harbour area didn't have any strategie stakes at all in the city political system ? To answer this question, this article is bent on showing how the Marseilles bourgeoisie managed to reproduce at the heart of the political system the constraints defining the local socio-economic space. It will also investigate the reasons why these "big families" did not succeed in creating the strong and long-lasting clientelistic relationships that would have guaranteed their political domination. Three main reasons deserve attention. Firstly, the Marseilles entrepreneurial bourgeoisie is more interested in controlling the port (the main resource-area for commercial wealth-formation) than in managing the city. Secondly, the bourgeoisie do not succeed in having a conservative or moderate majority battling back the rising left-wing forces and working class organizations. Thirdly, the political weakness of the bourgeoisie stems from it being internally divided. The goal of the political strategy of the bourgeoisie leading families therefore is to externalize the management of the city or, better, to exert it in an indirect way by keeping under control related key-areas (the port, the estate market). The period under scrutiny indeed can be analyzed as that of the process of the formation of a specifie political pattern whose birth can be traced back to the first Flaissieres city council (1892) and whose death is concomitant with that of the "Defferre System" (1977-1986).