Henri Robert (1899,

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

– 1987) is a French perfumer and chemist, he is best known for his role as Chief Perfumer at Les Parfums Chanel from 1953 to 1978.

Early life and career

Robert's father, Joseph Robert, was the Chief Perfumer at Chiris, who gave

François Coty François Coty (born Joseph Marie François Spoturno in Corsica ; 3 May 1874 – 25 July 1934) was a French perfumer, businessman, newspaper publisher, politician and patron of the arts. He was the founder of the Coty perfume company, today a ...

some of his first lessons, and developed the solvent extraction process that revolutionised how the perfumery industry produced raw materials. By 1919 the younger Robert was also working at Chiris alongside perfumers Vincent Roubert,

Ernest Beaux Ernest Beaux ( – 9 June 1961) was a Russian-born French perfumer who is best known for creating Chanel No. 5, which is perhaps the world's most famous perfume. Family background Born in Moscow, Ernest Beaux was the son of Edouard Hyppolite B ...

and

Henri Alméras Henri Alméras (1892 – 1965) was a French perfumer, author, and painter. Early life and career Alméras was born in a garrison in Brittany, the son of an officer. In school, he excelled in chemistry. He performed his military service in 1913 an ...

. He later joined Parfums d'Orsay, where his one of his most significant creations was the fragrance ''Le Dandy'' in 1923. ''Le Dandy'' was a fashionable floral

aldehyde In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred to as an aldehyde but can also be classified as a formyl grou ...

, which although marketed to men became a favourite with young women of the 1920s. Following François Coty's death in 1934 Robert became Chief Perfumer at Coty. In 1936 he created ''Muguet de Bois'' in tribute to

, taking inspiration from Coty's custom of presenting his employees with bunches of

lily of the valley Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...

, taken from the grounds of his country home, every May first. After the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

, Robert moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and continued to work as a Perfumer at Coty from 1940 to 1943. In 1943 Henri Robert Inc. merged with the Albert Verley Company Inc., and Mr. Robert worked there for an unknown number of years before departing to Chanel. Robert took over as Chief Perfumer at Les Parfums Chanel in 1952 after the retirement of

, creator of the perfume ''

Chanel No. 5 Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...

''. While at Les Parfums Chanel, which owned both Chanel and

Bourjois Bourjois is a French cosmetics company owned by the American group Coty, Inc., Coty Inc. Bourjois creates Make up, make-up, fragrance and skincare products, which are sold in approximately 26,000 points of sales in more than 80 countries worldwid ...

, he created a number of modern classics including ''Pour Monsieur'' (1955) Chanel's first men's fragrance, '' No. 19'' (1970) and '' Cristalle'' EDT (1974).

Family

Henri Robert was the uncle of perfumer Guy Robert (1926-2012)( and great-uncle of perfumer François Robert.

Notable perfume creations

* 1925 – ''Le Dandy'', Parfums D'Orsay * 1936 – ''Le Muguet des Bois'', Coty * 1951 – ''Ramage'', Bourjois * 1953 – ''Glamour'', Bourjois * 1955 – ''Pour Monsieur'', Chanel * 1970 – '' No. 19'', Chanel * 1974 – ''Cristalle'', Chanel

References

French perfumers Chanel people 1899 births 1987 deaths {{France-business-bio-stub