François Blanc
François Blanc (born December 12, 1806 in Courthézon , Département Vaucluse , France , † July 27, 1877 in Leukerbad , Valais , Switzerland ) was a French mathematician and financier. Blanc calculated the chances of winning for a friend and developed the roulette playing field, adding the Zéro (zero) and Doublezéro (double zero) as 37th and 38th numbers in the roulette wheel to guarantee the bank advantage.
François initially worked in the banking business in Bordeaux with his identical twin brother Louis (1806–1850). They made money with insider trading by finding out the price fluctuations on the Paris stock exchange ahead of time. The information was transmitted via the optical telegraph system, which was then reserved for the civil service , which made it necessary to bribe the officials in order to enable private use.
After this was exposed, the brothers first ran banking and stock market speculation in Paris , then a small casino in Luxembourg . After negotiations with the then governor of Luxembourg, Landgrave Ludwig von Hessen-Homburg , and then his successor Philipp von Hessen-Homburg , they founded the Spielbank Homburg in what is now Bad Homburg vor der Höhe in 1841 . At the instigation of Louis, the double zero in roulette was abolished there. This increased the chances of winning for the players, which made the Bad Homburg casino more attractive.
In 1863, Blanc received a 50-year license to operate a casino in Monaco . In order to facilitate the then arduous journey to Monaco, he negotiated with the French authorities and railway companies about the construction of a coastal road and a railway line along the French Riviera , which he co-financed from the casino's income.
After his death in 1877, his widow Marie Blanc took over his position as General Manager of the Monte Carlo Casino Company.
François Blanc rests in the family grave on the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise in Paris .
literature
- Bernhard Biener: Insider trading brought the money for the casino . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , December 8, 2006
- Egon Caesar Conte Corti : The Magician of Homburg and Monte Carlo . Societätsverlag, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-7973-1113-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Knerger.de: The grave of François Blanc
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blanc, François |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French mathematician and financier |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1806 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Courthézon , France |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 27, 1877 |
| Place of death | Leukerbad , Canton of Valais, Switzerland |