Léon Givaudan

Léon Givaudan (born January 12, 1875 in Caluire , † March 25, 1936 , probably in Paris ) was a French perfumer and entrepreneur .

Life

Léon Givaudan was born on January 12, 1875 in Cluire as the son of Evariste André and Marie Thérèse Aurore, also born Givaudan. He first completed a degree in chemistry at the Universities of Lyon and Zurich . In 1895 he founded the Givaudan company with his brother Xavier in Zurich . There he produced essential oils and synthetic fragrances in a makeshift laboratory .

In 1898 the city leased him Geneva a 6200 m² large plot . A year later, Givaudan's house was opened in Vernier on the banks of the Rhone , near the Usine de Chèvres , the area's first large hydroelectric power station. His goal was the manufacture of products that should be characterized by an optimal odor purity. These consisted of benzyl and cinnamon alcohol and various acetates .

After he was called up for French military service in 1914, his brother took over the management of the Givaudan company in Verney. After the end of the war, Léon Givaudan moved to Paris, where he died on March 25, 1936, two months after he had turned 61.

literature

• Laure Buhart: "Les flacons de la séduction", In: L'Estampille - L'objet d'art 263, 1992, pp. 68-75

Web links

• Ingrid Liebeskind Sauthier: Givaudan, Léon. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .