André Bettencourt (; 21 April 1919 – 19 November 2007) was a French politician. He had been a member of

La Cagoule (, "The Cowl"; founded in 1936) was a French fascist-leaning and anti-communist militant group. It opposed the left-wing Popular Front (in office, June 1936 to 1938) and used violence to promote its activities in the final years of the Thi ...

, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, before and into the Second World War; he then joined the anti-German Resistance late in the war. His earlier affiliation was not known when he later served as a cabinet minister under presidents

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a c ...

and

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, and was awarded for his bravery in the Resistance against the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Biography

He was born in

Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan Saint-Maurice-d'Ételan is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village in the Pays de Caux, situate ...

(Seine-Maritime) in an old Catholic Norman noble family. Bettencourt served in several posts in the government of France, most notably as interim minister of foreign affairs for two weeks in the spring of 1973. He also served as president of the regional council of

Haute-Normandie Upper Normandy (, ; ) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two departments: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Nor ...

from 1974 to 1981. In addition, he was the mayor of Saint-Maurice-d'Etelan from 1965 to 1989.

Controversy

In his youth, Bettencourt was a member of

(The Hood), a violent French fascist-leaning and

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

group.

Eugène Schueller Eugène Paul Louis Schueller (20 March 1881 – 23 August 1957) was a French chemist and entrepreneur who was the founder of L'Oréal, a leading company in cosmetics and beauty. Founding of L'Oréal Schueller was of Alsatian origin. He graduat ...

, founder of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

, provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at the company's headquarters. In the 1990s,

Jean Frydman Jean Frydman (26 June 1925 – 14 March 2021) was a Jewish member of the French Resistance during World War II and businessman. He received the ''Légion d'honneur'' in 2016 for his wartime efforts. Resistance During World War II, at the age of ...

, a shareholder and board member of L'Oréal's film and television subsidiary Paravision, alleged that he had been sacked in 1989 as the senior management at L'Oréal sought to avoid an Arab boycott of firms with Jewish links. Frydman held joint French and Israeli citizenship. Frydman also turned up the fact that Bettencourt had written many articles for a Nazi propaganda organ during World War II. From 1940 to 1942, Bettencourt wrote more than 60 articles for ''La Terre Française'', a weekly newspaper that flourished with Nazi German financing during the

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

. In a special Easter issue in 1941, he described Jews as 'hypocritical Pharisees' whose 'race has been forever sullied by the blood of the righteous. They will be cursed'. Bettencourt attempted to dismiss the journalism as "errors of youth", claiming that his judgement was clouded by the propaganda of

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. "I have repeatedly expressed my regrets concerning them in public and will always beg the Jewish community to forgive me for them".

Honours

For his acts of resistance during the Second World War, Bettencourt received the French

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

and

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

and was appointed a

Knight of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. He was elected a member of the ''

Académie des beaux-arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

'', one of the five academies of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

, as an unattached member on 23 March 1988.

Family

In 1950, Bettencourt married Liliane, daughter of

, the founder of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

, a leading cosmetics company. They had one daughter,

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (; born 10 July 1953) is a French businesswoman, philanthropist, writer, billionaire heiress, and the richest woman in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$89.6 billion as of May 2025, according to ''Forbes' ...

, who is a member of L'Oréal's

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. Françoise Meyers is married to

Jean-Pierre Meyers Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ( ...

(*1948), whose grandfather was murdered in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. Bettencourt died on 19 November 2007 at the age of 88.

References

*Michael Bar-Zohar, ''Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oréal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott'',

Dutton Books E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 1, ...

, London, 1996, p. 264.

External links

Biography
(in French)
Official website of L'Oréal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettencourt, Andre 1919 births 2007 deaths Andre Politicians from Normandy National Centre of Independents and Peasants politicians Independent Republicans politicians Foreign ministers of France Ministers of culture of France Ministers of posts, telegraphs, and telephones of France Deputies of the 1st National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Seine-Maritime French fascists French cosmetics businesspeople French Nazi propagandists French Fascist propagandists French anti-communist propagandists L'Oréal people Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)