The story of Gattefossé began in 1880 when a 26-year-old Louis Gattefossé moved to Lyon.

He was with his wife Marie-Eugénie and their two children, Abel and Marie-Louise (Louis and Marie-Eugénie would go on to have five children in total: Abel, Marie-Louise, René-Maurice, Robert and Jean).

Louis had been managing a beer warehouse further north in Vesoul (the Haute-Saône region of France) but had just been recruited as a salesman for Seghers & Maréchal, a Lyon-based oilcloth manufacturer. Louis’s sales portfolio steadily expanded beyond oilcloth to include photographic paper, petroleum jelly, mineral waxes and oils derived from petrol. And soon he was carrying a set of sample products, most of which were created through chemical processes, and would later be used as raw materials in Gattefossé products.

Louis and his daughter Marie-Louise singing.

In 1894, Louis began forging relationships with perfume houses at the Exposition Universelle (international colonial exhibition) in Lyon that year.

From that point on, he started selling citrus essential oils from Sicily, terpene-free essences from Germany and Switzerland, and cosmetic raw materials manufactured by German and Belgian companies. He also started preparing “aromatic compositions” for his perfumer clients: Eaux de Cologne, “crèmes divines” and cold creams, jotting down the formulations in a little notebook. Louis’s company may not have been established yet, but his preparations marked the start of Gattefossé’s manufacturing activity.

In 1895, Abel Gattefossé turned 18 and began working with his father. Louis’s second son, René-Maurice, joined them some fifteen years later after studying Chemistry at the University of Lyon. René-Maurice was responsible for research and production in the company “laboratory”, which at that point was a simple lean-to in the garden of the family home in Monchat, a district on the outskirts of Lyon. Abel and Louis were both in charge of sales, however in 1906, Louis retired, leaving the management of the business to his two eldest sons.

The Gattefossé family suffered greatly during the war and both Abel and Robert lost their lives. The family business had also weakened financially, so René-Maurice decided to create a new business and seek external investors. In 1919, with several industry partners on board, he created the “Société Française des Produits Aromatiques (SFPA), anciens établissements Gattefossé” (the French Aromatic Products Company, formerly Gattefossé establishments). René-Maurice contributed Gattefossé & Sons’ business assets to the new company, but even so, he retained just 8% of shares.

Soon after, SFPA left the Monchat district of Lyon for the neighboring city of Villeurbanne. A huge factory was built, housing a dozen workshops and laboratories fitted with state-of-the-art equipment. At that time, perfumery was still the company’s primary activity.

The SFPA started developing an efficient network for the business by opening a number of offices around the world. René-Maurice’s nephew, Louis Schmuck was put in charge of the Paris office, and his younger brother Jean was entrusted with prospecting for new plant species in Morocco and the colonies.

Jean and the SFPA developed relationships with suppliers all over the world; the business imported clove oil and cinnamon essence from Madagascar, niaouli and star anise essential oils from Indochina, and cedarwood oil from Morocco. Rose oil came from Bulgaria and mint oils from America.

Advertisements said the SFPA “only worked with the purest and most refined products”. Customers could purchase the Argos range, a collection of citrus essential oils from Sicily (lemon, orange, bergamot, etc.), several products made from blended raw materials, and so-called “artificial” fragrances such as “Lotex” (violet, jasmine, quinine and mimosa) and “Taylor” (acacia, white rose and oregano).

Jean also became Editor-in-Chief of La Parfumerie Moderne, which continued to spread its “propaganda” throughout the world of French perfumery.

The SFPA also directly benefited from valuable information published in the magazine about the raw materials used to create its products. Eminent botanists published the results of their work on the pages of La Parfumerie Moderne.

In January 1907, Abel and René-Maurice created “Gattefossé & Fils” (Gattefossé & Sons), and the family business was legally recognized as a French company for the very first time. Both sons continued their father’s work (Louis), with Abel running the commercial side of the business and René-Maurice in charge of research. René-Maurice was keen to let his clients know about the use of synthetic fragrances (new to the market and often criticized), and he published several very successful books.

René-Maurice was also interested in “natural” raw materials, especially essential oils.

In 1907, the President of the South-East Agricultural Trade Union wanted to raise the profile of French lavender and invited René- Maurice to Haute Provence to see the “baïassières”, the region’s vast wild lavender fields. There, René-Maurice discovered a piece of unclaimed land and also met lavender growers working in basic conditions. He soon put initiatives in place to improve product quality, increase yield, modernize equipment, educate producers and organize the profession to make it more effective. He made sure that the stills functioned more efficiently, filed for a patent, contributed to creating a trade union for lavender essence producers, purchased a steam distillation plant, set up a cooperative for lavender growers and lots more.

Inspired by the success of his investment in Provençal lavender, in 1908, René-Maurice launched La Parfumerie Moderne, a trade magazine targeted at perfumers, essence producers, engineers and agronomists.

La Parfumerie Moderne may have promoted the interests of the whole sector, but it also functioned as an indirect communication tool for the Gattefossé business.

At the outbreak of the First World War, the three Gattefossé brothers – Abel, René-Maurice and Robert, Louis’s third son, were all enlisted. Of the three, only René-Maurice would survive. In 1915, René-Maurice was wounded and returned to the business, throwing heart and soul into promoting essential oils, which he believed could save lives at a time so tainted by death.

It was in 1910 that René-Maurice personally experimented with the antiseptic properties and healing qualities of lavender essential oil. After an explosion in his laboratory, René-Maurice developed gas gangrene on both hands and decided to apply lavender essence to the infected wounds. They healed, so he started to study this new “therapy”. In 1916, he developed Salvol, an “aromatic disinfectant” that would go on to be trialed in hospitals, first with soldiers, then civilians during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Now he had the support of medics, René-Maurice was keen to prove the benefits of using terpene-free essences which, according to him, were more soluble in water than untreated oils. This marked a significant step forward in the history of aromatherapy.

During the 1930s, René-Maurice was experimenting with the therapeutic effects of essential oils in the syphilis department run by Professor Jean Gaté at the Antiquaille hospital in Lyon. He was also using his son in-law’s emulsified excipients in his preparations.

At that time, René-Maurice had not long published a book entitled L’Aromathérapie, a term he invented.

The publication included a report on the work he had carried out over the previous two decades and analysis of scientific, chemical and pharmacological data available on aromatherapy. Towards the end of the 1930s, he conducted an increasing number of clinical trials, looking ahead to a second edition. However, it never saw the light of day.

In 1940, René-Maurice purchased a farmhouse near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (in the South of France), where he grew lavender, mint, sage and other aromatic herbs. He also found this to be a suitable environment for writing numerous works on cosmetics.
On 21st April 1950, René-Maurice was visiting his brother Jean in Casablanca, Morocco, when he died, suddenly, from a pulmonary edema.

In 1904, the Gattefossé settled in Montchat, a district in the east of Lyon. The business was led by Abel and Louis. René-Maurice was managing “research” and production. He was working in the laboratory where he distilled essences, manufactured perfume compositions and hygienic or antiseptic applications. Blanche Schmuck, his wife, Henriette Dupret, Abel’s wife, and Marie-Eugénie (Louis’ wife) were in charge of administration.

Blanche stood at the head of the company throughout World War I when Gattefossé brothers were drafted into the army.

She was running the business with the help of Henriette and Jean who was finishing his studies. She had to face great financial difficulties while taking care of two children and being pregnant in 1916.

Blanche in the laboratory, 1917.

In 1916, René-Maurice was demobilized and continued to take all kinds of initiatives to promote the cultivation of aromatic plants. In the same year, he created with his friend Antoine Vial a lavender cooperative in Sault-en-Vaucluse: the “Société de la Lavande Française” (French lavender society). Blanche was involved and participated in the lavender cups and distillations, alongside Vial.
On 21st April 1950, René-Maurice was visiting his brother Jean in Casablanca, Morocco, when he died, suddenly, from a pulmonary edema.

His widow, Blanche, was immediately named President, her son Marcel became general manager and his son-in-law Émile technical director.

Blanche was supported by her two friends and administrators, Aymé Bernard and Pierre Argence.

Blanche held this position for almost twenty years, until her son Henri-Marcel was named President in 1968. Even if she was not managing operations anymore, she always wanted to know about the business; Marcel visited her to keep her informed every day. She frequently visited offices of Constant street on the morning, a couple of doors from her own home, to attend the reading of the mail and was particularly interested in orders: she was often disappointed not to find any orders for essential oils.

René-Maurice’s son Henri-Marcel Gattefossé (who went by the name Marcel) and son-in-law Émile Mahler both joined the company as chemists in 1930. After meeting Doctor Jonquières, Marcel contributed to the development and manufacture of veterinary products and then dermatological materials.

At the Antiquaille hospital in Lyon, working in the syphilis department run by Professor Jean Gaté, Marcel tested from 1938 new emulsified creams invented by Émile. The creams proved to be excellent substitutes for Vaseline and other types of petroleum jelly and marked the company’s first steps into dermatology.

While the company was pursuing dermatological activities and collaborating with hospitals, it started to increase the amount of work it was carrying out in the cosmetics sector until that became the strongest part of the business: Marcel and René-Maurice did a lot of research.

In 1946, after the war, they saw their research developments come to fruition when they were issued a patent for the manufacturing processes developed to create the creams tested at the Antiquaille hospital. That same year, the SFPA firmly established its credibility in the field of cosmetics when it was granted a further patent for a type of hair oil.

On April 1950, after René-Maurice death, Marcel became Managing Director. And during the 1960s, Gattefossé SA was managed by both Marcel and his brother-in-law Émile.

Gattefossé contributed to university seminars, with practical work taking place in the company laboratories. This opened up the academic world to Gattefossé, allowing the company to blossom beyond its four walls.

In 1966, Marcel, Bernard Guillot and academics Dolique and Etter, jointly created the “Journées Galéniques de Saint-Rémy de Provence” conference series.

Every summer, colleagues, industry partners and academics would meet to discuss matters of interest to the profession. These “journées” led to long-term collaborations that would help the business progress and prepare the way for future projects. Creating such partnerships was an approach that had been embraced by previous generations, when René-Maurice worked with medics and pharmacists, for instance.

1975 was a turning point in the history of the business. After 25 years of growth, Gattefossé entered a period of decline. The oil crisis affected all industrialized countries and Gattefossé was not spared. Marcel, at the age of 65, made an announcement to the board of directors saying he wished to bring in additional help and take a step back from the operational management of the business.

In the 1930s, the arrival of a new generation marked a turning point for the business. René-Maurice’s son Henri-Marcel Gattefossé and son-in-law Émile Mahler both joined the SFPA (the French Aromatic Products Company, formerly Gattefossé establishments) as chemists -Émile joined the Gattefossé company and the family when he married René-Maurice’s daughter in 1937-.

Émile started producing emulsified excipients, introducing lipid chemistry and formulation to the business.

This was a key period in the history of Gattefossé because it largely determined the organization’s direction over the decades to come, and still today, lipid chemistry is central to the company’s activities.

On 21st April 1950, René-Maurice died suddenly from a pulmonary edema; Émile was made Technical Director.

In 1953, upon request of the Société Industrielle des Oléagineux (SIO), Émile led the physicochemical study of suppository “prototypes”. Once the product had been tested at a hospital in Paris to confirm the correct levels of physiological tolerance, Gattefossé registered the product in 1954 under the brand name Suppocire®, signing an exclusivity agreement with the SIO.

Suppocire® became highly successful, both commercially and within the industry, and it made Gattefossé the largest supplier of suppository base material in France.

The interesterification of oils carried out by the SIO when manufacturing Suppocire® inspired Émile Mahler to study the related chemical process in more detail. He successfully transformed a type of vegetable oil into a hydrophilic substance, and that was how the Labrafil® came about. A related trademark application was filed in 1954, followed by a patent application in 1956.

In 1961, the Société Française de Produits Aromatiques (SFPA) became Gattefossé Société Anonyme (an incorporated company).

Technology evolved and Gattefossé’s catalog continued to expand with Tefose®, Gelucire®, Plurol®, Labrafac™ and Labrasol® all adding to the list of company products. The business also extended its range of Suppocire® and Labrafil® following internal laboratory tests and external client testing. Émile created Lipocire™ (the cosmetic equivalent of Suppocire) with the help of Lucien Waginaire, a recently appointed chemist who would go on to play a decisive role in the company over the years to come. The Lipocire™ range was used in the development of lipstick formulations.

In 1975, several people joined the Gattefossé management team from outside the family. First Libéro Penna, then Bernard Glas, followed by Bernard Perrot, who from 1986 carried out important work restructuring the business in line with industrial modernization.

In terms of the family, a fourth generation of Gattefossés joined the business at the end of the 1970s and Henri-Marcel’s son-in-law, Jacques Moyrand, took charge of expanding the company’s export network.

Émile’s son, Bruno Mahler, was given responsibility for technical development.

In 1980, the business celebrated its 100th anniversary. It now had a presence in 42 different countries. Gattefossé was the world’s second-biggest supplier of suppository base material, the third-largest European supplier of fatty acid esters and the world’s second-most supplier of plant extracts for cosmetics.

Jacques Moyrand in 1980.

At the start of the 1980s, Gattefossé decided to speed up the process of international development. Jacques Moyrand was keen to make it a mainstay of the organization. The new strategy meant establishing a direct presence in countries with significant possibilities for growth. So, between 1979 and 1989, Gattefossé opened branches in Switzerland, Spain, Germany and Italy. Elsewhere, the business continued to work with distributors to sell the company’s products.

In 1997, Jacques Moyrand agreed to take over from Bernard Perrot as Chairman of the organization. In just two years, turnover increased significantly, and in 1999 exports accounted for over 50% of sales.

In 2017, twenty years after Jacques Moyrand took over as Chairman, Gattefossé’s turnover exceeded 100 million Euros for the first time. Almost 70% of sales took place outside France, and these were split between the pharmacy and cosmetics sectors.

In 2008, Gattefossé created a Foundation.

It is chaired by René-Maurice Gattefossé’s granddaughter, Françoise-Sophie Moyrand, and it aims at highlighting the practice of aromatherapy as a complementary approach to traditional allopathic medicine, in hospital and across all medical fields.

Priority areas are infectiology, extended oncology treatment, geriatrics, palliative care, psychiatry and pain management.

The Gattefossé Foundation is keen to contribute to improving the quality of life and patient care throughout the treatment process.