Édouard Michelin (; 23 June 1859 – 25 August 1940) was a French

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. He was born in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

, France. Édouard and his elder brother

André André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

served as co-directors of the

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

company. Edouard seemed destined for a career as an artist, but around 1888 he and his brother Andre returned to

in order to try to save the failing family business, then a manufacturer of agricultural tools, drive belts and hoses. In 1889, he improved greatly on the design of the

pneumatic tyre A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

for bicycles, making tyres easier to change and repair. The invention proved its worth in the Paris–Brest cycle event organized by the newspaper '' Le Petit Journal'' in September 1891, and Michelin quickly adapted his inflatable tyres for use on motor vehicles, of which France was becoming the world's leading producer. Success came rapidly, and already in 1896 approximately 300 Paris taxis were running on Michelin pneumatic tyres. His company went on to experience tremendous growth serving the fledgling industry around the turn of the century and beyond. In the traumatic weeks that followed the German invasion of May/June 1940, world events overshadowed Michelin's death. Nevertheless, by the time he died he had built Michelin into a major industrial force, with many "firsts" in wheel and tyre technology to its credit. He had overseen the acquisition of the (then bankrupt)

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

business in 1934: with his son Pierre and their friend Pierre-Jules Boulanger he secured its position as one of Europe's most innovative auto-makers in the 1940s and 1950s, producing models such as the Citroën Traction, the revolutionary Citroën TUB/TUC light van and the 2CV prepared for introduction at the 1939

Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...

(which was cancelled at short notice, the war causing the launch of the little car to be deferred). Édouard Michelin also lived a long life and suffered the personal tragedies of being predeceased by two of his sons, Étienne Michelin having been killed in a flying accident in 1932 and Pierre Michelin having been killed in a road accident near

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Centre-Val de Loire ''région'', and the second in the Loiret ''département'' after Orléans. It is near ...

in 1937. His great-grandson, a former CEO and managing partner of the Michelin Group who died on 26 May 2006 in a boating accident, was also named

Édouard Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne ...

. Édouard and his brother André were inducted into the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum honoring influential figures in the history of the automotive industry. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, US. The Hall of Fame is part of the MotorCities National Herita ...

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...

, in 2002.''Ward's Auto World''. May 2002, Vol. 38 Issue 5, p21. 1/6p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelin, Edouard 1859 births 1940 deaths Businesspeople from Clermont-Ferrand French industrialists Michelin people French company founders 19th-century French businesspeople 20th-century French businesspeople