Emil Gerbeaud (french: Émile Gerbeaud,

Carouge Carouge () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Carouge is first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages as ''Quadruvium'' and ''Quatruvio''. In 1248 it was mentioned as ''Carrogium'' while in the 14th Century it was kn ...

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, 22 February 1854 –

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, 8 November 1919) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

-born Hungarian confectioner, chocolate producer, industrialist and entrepreneur. Several famous traditional Hungarian cakes were first introduced by him like the ''macskanyelv'' (), the ''konyakos meggy'' (), the ''csokoládé drazsé'' () and he was the first in

who sold French cakes filled with

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

. The ''zserbó'' cake, a well-known product of the

Café Gerbeaud Café Gerbeaud, situated at Vörösmarty tér 7 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is a traditional coffeehouse opened in 1858. It was built in Gründerzeit style. In 2009 Café Gerbeaud opened its second confectionery in Tokyo, Japan. Histo ...

is named after him, although it was not available in his lifetime.

Life

Early life

Émile Gerbeaud was born in

on 22 February 1854 into a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

merchant, confectioner family. His father, Simon-Jean-François Gerbeaud was a French confectioner and trader. His mother was Jeanne-Marie Gros. During his younger years he was trained in the family business and later worked in several confectioneries in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1879 Gerbeaud opened his own confectionery in

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

, Loire Department,

Café Gerbeaud

In 1884 he came to

at the request of the famous Hungarian confectioner Henrik Kugler and became shareholder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Henrik Kugler's Confectionery (''Kugler Henrik Cukrászdája'') (which later became his own company under the name

). In 1886 he expanded the company with a new chocolate factory. He gained reputation for the Hungarian confectionery industry and won the gold medal for his products on the

World Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

s in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

and

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

. In recognition of this he received the

Franz-Joseph Order The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

and the

French Honorary Order French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

. He was elected President of the Division of Sugar Production of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Hungary in 1903. In 1904 he moved the chocolate factory to Duna Street. In 1907 he became president of the international bakery and confectionery exhibition. In 1896 at the Millennium Exhibition he demonstrated his modern fabrication method of chocolate which brought him a reputation. In 1907 he bought and renewed a chocolate factory in

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(today

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Death

After his death on 9 November 1919 his wife led the company successfully further until 1940. In 1948 the communist regime deprived the heirs, the five daughters of Emil Gerbeaud, of the shares of the company and they confiscated it. Since 1984 the company is again under the name '

' registered and since 1995 owned by the German billionaire, Erwin Franz Müller, the owner of the Müller drugstores.

Personal life

He married Esther Ramseyer (1853 – 7 February 1940), the daughter of a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

chocolatefabric owner and confectioner from

Saint-Imier Saint-Imier () is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). The Observatoire Astronomique de Mont-Soleil is located abo ...

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

. They had together five daughters. * Gabrielle (?–?) * Marcella (Budapest, 14 January 1883 – 30 January 1971) * Erzsébet Kamilla (Budapest, 15 November 1885 – ?) * Ilona Janka (Budapest, 23 April 1888 – ?) * Margit Magdolna (Budapest, 23 October 1890 – )

Sources

* ANTAL, Zsuzsanna - Ki sütött először süteményt a Gerbeaud-ban? Kugler Henrik története. (7 September 2017, Forbes Hungary)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerbeaud, Emil Swiss expatriates in Hungary Businesspeople from Budapest Hungarian investors Hungarian industrialists Hungarian chief executives 19th-century Hungarian businesspeople 1854 births 1919 deaths Swiss Roman Catholics People from Carouge