Occupation Founder of L'Oreal Role Pharmacist Children Liliane Bettencourt | Name Eugene Schueller Died August 23, 1957 | |
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Relatives Liliane Bettencourt (daughter) Grandchildren Francoise Bettencourt Meyers Organizations founded L'Oreal, Revolutionary Social Movement Similar People Liliane Bettencourt, Andre Bettencourt, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers | ||
Eugene Paul Louis Schueller (20 March 1881 – 23 August 1957) was a French pharmacist and entrepreneur who was the founder of L'Oreal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty. He was one of the founders of modern advertising.
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Career with L'Oreal
As a young French chemist of German parents, Eugene Schueller graduated in 1904 from the Institut de Chimie Appliquee de Paris (now Chimie ParisTech). Schueller developed in 1907 an innovative hair-color formula, which he called Oreale. He formulated and manufactured his own products, and sold them to Parisian hairdressers.
In 1909, he registered his company, the Societe Francaise de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux, the future L'Oreal. The guiding principles of the company that would become L'Oreal were put into place from the start: research and innovation in the interest of beauty.
Controversy
During the early twentieth century, Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oreal headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning, antisemitic and anti-communist group whose leader formed a political party Mouvement Social Revolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in Occupied France supported the Vichy collaboration with the conquerors from Nazi Germany.
L'Oreal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as Jacques Correze, who served as CEO of the U.S. operation. This involvement was extensively researched by Michael Bar-Zohar in his book, Bitter Scent.
Family
Schueller's daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, is the widow of Andre Bettencourt with whom she had one daughter, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, a member of L'Oreal's board of directors. Francoise Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, whose parents died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Liliane Bettencourt is currently the second wealthiest woman in the world, with holdings estimated at US$40.9 billion.
Legacy
The head office of L'Oreal in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine is named Centre Eugene Schueller.