Eugène Paul Louis Schueller (20 March 1881 – 23 August 1957) was a French chemist and entrepreneur who was the founder of

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

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

and beauty.

Founding of L'Oréal

Schueller was of Alsatian origin. He graduated in 1904 from the Institut de Chimie Appliquée de Paris (now Chimie ParisTech) and became a laboratory assistant under Victor Auger (father of

Pierre Victor Auger Pierre Victor Auger (; 14 May 1899 – 24 December 1993) was a French physicist, born in Paris. He worked in the fields of atomic physics, nuclear physics, and cosmic ray physics. He is famous for being one of the discoverers of the Auger effect, ...

) at Sorbonne. A barber asked him to develop a new hair dye, but Schueller took this opportunity to lead his own research shop. Schueller developed an innovative hair-color formula in 1907, which he called Oréale. He formulated and manufactured his own products, and sold them to Parisian hairdressers. In 1909, he registered his company, the ''Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux'' (French Company of Inoffensive Hair Dyes), the future L'Oréal. In his production unit, he developed the concept of proportional salary. In 1936, the social reforms led by Léon Blum in France suddenly created a vacation industry, and the sales of L'Oréal's sunscreen (Ambre Solaire) skyrocketed.

Support for fascism

During the early twentieth century, Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for '' La Cagoule'' at L'Oréal headquarters. ''La Cagoule'' was a violent French

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

-leaning,

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and anti-

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

group whose leader formed a political party Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in

Occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

supported the

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...

with the conquerors from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. In ''La révolution de l’économie'' (1941), he wrote: L'Oréal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as

Jacques Corrèze Jacques Corrèze (11 February 1912 – 28 June 1991) was a French businessman and politician. He was the chief executive officer of the United States-based operation of L'Oréal for the Americas (Cosmair), the world's leading company in cosmetics ...

, who was

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the US operation. This involvement was extensively researched by Michael Bar-Zohar in his book ''Bitter Scent''.

Family

Schueller's daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, was the widow of

André Bettencourt André Bettencourt (; 21 April 1919 – 19 November 2007) was a French politician. He had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group, before and into the Second World War; he then joined the anti-G ...

with whom she had one daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, chairwoman of L'Oréal's board of directors and according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index the richest woman in the world and the 12th richest person, with a net worth of US$ 94.9 billion as of January 2022. Françoise Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, whose rabbi grandfather was murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. In 2017, Liliane Bettencourt was the wealthiest woman in the world, with holdings estimated at $39.5 billion.

Legacy

The head office of L'Oréal in

Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine Clichy ( , ; sometimes unofficially Clichy-la-Garenne ) is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located on the Seine, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. Located in Clichy are the headquarters ...

is named ''Centre Eugène Schueller''.World Presence
"

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

. Retrieved on 14 July 2010. "Centre Eugène Schueller 41, rue Martre 92117 CLICHY"

References

External links

Official website of L'Oréal

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schueller, Eugene 1881 births 1957 deaths Businesspeople from Paris 20th-century French chemists French cosmetics businesspeople French fascists History of cosmetics L'Oréal people French anti-communists Knights of the Legion of Honour French people of German descent French company founders French collaborators with Nazi Germany