Marco Menahem Behar was an art dealer and one-time partner of Albert Soustiel (of whom nothing further is known) and Constantinople native Raphael Treves (born April 21, 1893). This firm, in operation from 1920 to 1921, was located on 68 Newman Street in West London and dealt in old tapestries and carpets. Behar was refused a certificate of naturalization and was adjudicated a bankrupt on December 11, 1922. At this time, Soustiel and Treves retired from the business and Behar took over the whole of the assets and liabilities. County court records showed that Messrs. Waring & Gillow, Ltd. of 164 Oxford Street, W., obtained judgment against the firm on April 26, 1922 for £50.13.6 and only received £10, the remaining balance being erased as a bad debt. Raphael Treves may have been related to Behar, given that his mother’s maiden name was Vida Behar, although this family name is extremely common among Sephardi Jews. Behar’s naturalization file number is noted in Treves’s application, but the actual file has disappeared.[1]

[1] TNAUK, HO 144/15699, naturalization file of Raphael Treves, Metropolitan Police Report, February 17, 1931, p.3.