Edme-Jean Leclaire (14 May 1801 – 13 July 1872) was a French economist and businessman. He developed an early system of employee

profit-sharing Profit sharing is various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses. In publicly traded companies th ...

. Leclaire was born the son of a poor village shoemaker, in

Aisy-sur-Armançon Aisy-sur-Armançon (, literally ''Aisy on Armançon'') is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of the 423 commu ...

, a small village in the district of Tonnerre, department of

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is lo ...

in France. He was a successful contractor glazier-painter, employing from 60 to 80 workers. The Society of Providence and Mutual Aid of the workers and employees of the Leclaire Company, which he founded, was authorized by the French

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

on 28 September 1838. Leclaire subsequently served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the town of

Herblay Herblay-sur-Seine (, literally ''Herblay on Seine''; before 2018: ''Herblay'') is a commune in the department of Val-d'Oise, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in its northwest suburbs. It is twinned with Yeovil, UK. Geography Cli ...

, a commune in the north-western suburbs of Paris, France. The short-lived cooperative village of Leclaire in

Madison County, Illinois Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most popu ...

, was founded by N. O. Nelson as a company town for the N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Company. The village was named in honor of Edme-Jean Leclaire. The village, which existed from 1890 to 1934, was operated based on some of Leclaire's principles.''The History of Leclaire'' (Explore Historic Leclaire)
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References

1801 births 1872 deaths 19th-century French businesspeople {{France-business-bio-stub