Eugène Schueller

Eugène Schueller (20 march1881 - 23 August 1957) was the founder of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty.

Career with L'Oréal

In 1907, young German-French chemist, Eugene Schueller developed an innovative hair-color formula. He called his dye Auréale. With that, the history of L'Oréal began. He formulated and manufactured his own products, and sold them to Parisian hairdressers.

In 1909, he registered his company, the "Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux", the future L'Oréal. The guiding principles of the company that would become L'Oréal 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'Oréal headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group. L'Oréal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as Jacques Corrèze, who served as CEO of the U.S. operation. This involvement was extensively researched by Michael Bar-Zohar in his book, Bitter Scent.

Eugène Schueller actively assisted the Vichy regime and directly assisted the Nazis in taking Jewish private property, destroying synagogues and other Jewish monuments, and in shipping Jews to Nazi concentration camps.

Family

Schueller's daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, is the widow of André Bettencourt. Together, they have one daughter, Françoise Meyers, who is a member of L'Oréal's board of directors. Françoise Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, both of whose parents died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. She is currently the richest woman in the world, with holdings estimated at $22.9 billion.

See also

• L'Oréal
• Jacques Corrèze
• Liliane Schueller Bettencourt
• André Bettencourt
• La Cagoule

References

• Michael Bar-Zohar, Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oréal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott (London, Dutton Books: 1996) pp. 264.

External links

• Official website of L'Oréal
• Forbes article on L'Oréal
• Forbes article on Liliane Bettencourt
• Book Review of Bitter Scent