Yves Rocher (7 April 1930 – 26 December 2009) was a French businessman and founder of the cosmetics company that bears his name. He was a pioneer of the modern use of natural ingredients in cosmetics..

Early life

Yves Rocher was born in the village of

La Gacilly La Gacilly (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and about from both. It extended on ...

, Morbihan, where he grew up. After the death of his father when he was 14,. he helped his mother in running the small family textiles business. A local healer taught him the recipe for a

hemostatic An antihemorrhagic (antihæmorrhagic) agent is a substance that promotes hemostasis (stops bleeding). It may also be known as a hemostatic (also spelled haemostatic) agent. Antihemorrhagic agents used in medicine have various mechanisms of action: ...

ointment based on the

lesser celandine ''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and Western Asia. It has fleshy dar ...

flower, and he decided to sell the ointment by mail order with adverts in the magazine ''

Ici Paris ''Ici Paris'' is a French magazine, founded in 1941. During World War II it was a journal of the resistance with editors such as Raymond Burgard, Émile Coornaert, Suzanne Feingold, Marietta Martin, Henri de Montfort and Paul Petit. In 1986 it ...

''..

Business career

Natural products and mail order sales were the pillars of the cosmetics company he founded in 1959. The company grew rapidly and, three years later, he opened his first store. Yves Rocher retired from the company in 1992, passing control to his son Didier, but returned to the helm after Didier's death in 1994. Yves Rocher, Italie 2, Paris 5 April 2013

Yves Rocher, Italie 2, Paris 5 April 2013

His grandson Bris was named vice-president in 2007, and took over the company completely after Yves Rocher's death in 2009.. The company had an estimated value of two billion

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s in 2007, and employs 15,000 people. The Yves Rocher group achieved a turnover of 2.5 billion euros in 2017.

Civic activity

Yves Rocher was also active on the political scene of southern

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. He was mayor of

from 1962 to 2008,. and was also elected to the

General Council General council may refer to: In education: * General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland * General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

in 1982 and the Regional Council of Brittany in 1992. His company has been instrumental in the economic development of the area around La Gacilly, with factories, development laboratories and a botanical garden. Rocher was sometime criticized for being both the area's main employer and its political representative..

Awards

Yves Rocher was made an officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1992 and a commander in April 2007. He was also a member of the Order of the Ermine. According to the company's website and founder mission, Yves Rocher was against animal testing of products, once commenting, "If you have to test your 'products' on animals, you don't know what you're doing."

Death

Yves Rocher died in the

Lariboisière Hospital Lariboisière Hospital (french: Hôpital Lariboisière) is a hospital in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, France. The hospital was one of several built following the second cholera pandemic, which had reached Paris in 1832, and which led to a ...

in Paris on 26 December 2009 after suffering a stroke.. He was buried in La Gacilly on 30 December in the presence of 5000 people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocher, Yves 20th-century French businesspeople French cosmetics businesspeople People from Morbihan 1930 births 2009 deaths Businesspeople from Brittany