Francois Coty

A perfuming genius, the “father of modern perfumery”, the “Napoleon of perfumery”… numerous prestigious titles for a man who, during a brilliant and brief lifetime, brought fame to perfumery. François Coty was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, in 1874, baptised as Joseph-Marie-François Spoturno. After completing his military service in 1898, he moved to Paris as part of the entourage of the Corsican politician Emmanuel Arène (1856-1908). After training at the Chiris establishment in Grasse, Coty became a consummate “nose”. In 1904 he successfully commercialised his first perfume, “La Rose Jacqueminot”, the first of several impressive creations: L’Origan, Ambre antique, Jasmin de Corse and Chypre… created in 1917, the first of a new olfactory family. Emeraude, Paris, L’Aimant… By then, the fragrance revolution was at its peak and could be shaped in three dimensions: The art of composition: All of Coty’s perfumes included an academic and erudite blend of pure ingredients and synthetic chemical products. Marketing: The creation of a rich range of products around a fragrance: rice powders, hair care products, face, body… The art of product presentation and display: François Coty worked very closely with René Lalique to create perfume bottles, along with other great artists of the time to create sublime perfume boxes, within which the precious fragrance bottles would rest. From 1906 onwards, Coty opened in the USA, then in Russia, the United Kingdom and around the world. In the late 1920s, at the head of a prestigious industrial group, he was among the most powerful businessmen and was the richest man in France. Towards the end of the 1920s, Coty was overtaken by several coinciding events: the 1929 stock market crash, a ruinous divorce and huge sums of money absorbed by his political activities. On 25 July 1934, a victim of a stroke, he died at his property in Louveciennes. In the 21st century, the genius of his perfumery legacy endures through the industrial group Coty Inc, a world leader in perfume distribution, and its legendary perfumes, part of the rich French heritage presented to the public by the François Coty Association with the participation of the Osmothèque.