Jean Amic

Jean Amic was a renowned French perfumer born in 1935 in Paris, France. He came from a family with a long history in the perfume industry, being a direct descendant of the founder of Roure, a company established in 1820. His father, Louis Amic, was also a perfumer who created fragrances for high-end fashion designers. Jean Amic’s early education was in France, and later he obtained a degree in Mathematics at a university in the United States. He spent several years in Algeria before returning to France to join Roure in 1962. He quickly proved his worth to the company and rose through the ranks until he directed the Roure-Dupont centre in New York from 1964 to 1970. In 1970, Amic became Director of Roure, a position he held until the company merged with Givaudan in 1991. During his time at Roure, he demonstrated excellent commercial vision and a deep knowledge of perfumes. He also had a fantastic sense of smell, which helped him create some of the world’s most popular fragrances. Amic’s talent for fragrance composition led him to create numerous iconic perfumes, including Rive Gauche and Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, Poison by Christian Dior, Obsession by Calvin Klein, and Loulou by Cacharel. He worked with some of the best designers in the world and established his reputation as one of the leading perfumers of the 20th century. In 1991, following the merger of Givaudan and Roure, Amic was appointed head of the creative division of the new company. He continued to oversee fragrance development until the year 2000, when he retired from the company. Even after his retirement, Amic remained a respected figure in the perfume industry, and his contributions to the field were widely recognised.