André Essel (4 September 1918 – 31 March 2005) was the co-founder of

Fnac Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviation of Fédération Nationale d ...

, originally ''Fédération nationale d’achats des cadres, or National Purchasing Federation for Middle Managers'', alongside

Max Théret Max Théret (6 January 191325 February 2009) was the co-founder of Fnac, originally ''Fédération nationale d’achats des cadres, or National Purchasing Federation for Middle Managers'', alongside André Essel. He was also a freemason antifasci ...

. He was also an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

activist and a believer in

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

Achievements

Essel was awarded the French

Cross of War The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

honouring his involvement in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

against the

Axis forces The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were Na ...

Forming of Fnac

In 1953, he met

, the other co-founder of

, and the two conceived the idea of forming a new buyers club through a magazine called ''Contact''. Founded a year later in 1954,

was exclusive to its members only, offering sharp discounts on its products, based on the founders socialist principles. Their aim was to improve the lives of the workers, not through higher salaries but through lower prices. In 1974, Fnac began selling books at 80% off the RRP, sparking protests and a law, in 1982, that limited the level of discounts that could be offered on books. He left the company in 1983 and was replaced by Roger Kerinec, the SGCC president.

Works

* ''I wanted to change the world : memories''. - Stock, 1985. * New edition followed by interviews with Perle Scemla in 2001 in memory of the book. -

References

External links

La Fnac salue la mémoire de son fondateur, André Essel
(Obituary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Essel, Andre 1918 births 2005 deaths People from Toulouse Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)