Émile-Justin Menier (; 18 May 182617 February 1881), French

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

manufacturer,

chocolatier A chocolatier ( ; ; ) is a person or company that makes and sells chocolate confections. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other raw ingredients. Chocolatiers work artisanally with pre- ...

, and politician, was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1853, on the death of his father,

Antoine Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is most common in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada ...

, Émile-Justin Menier inherited a large and successful Parisian company that manufactured a range of medicinal powders. His father's company also manufactured

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

as part of its business and Émile-Justin Menier would eventually devote himself to the making of chocolate. His Menier Chocolate company purchased cocoa-growing estates in

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and

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

fields in France, erected a processing

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

, and equipped itself in other ways for the production of chocolate on a large scale. In 1864 he sold his interest in the drug-manufacturing business, and thenceforth confined himself to chocolate, building up an immense trade. He built a factory in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1870 and the next year he hired architect Jules Saulnier to design a new chocolate factory to replace their existing facility in

Noisiel Noisiel () is a commune in the French department of Seine-et-Marne, administrative region of Île-de-France. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. The commune of Noisiel is part of the Val Maubuée sector, on ...

. Émile-Justin Menier was also a keen politician, serving as mayor of Noisiel from 1871-1881. Members of the family would be the commune's mayor until 1959. From 1876 until his death he had a seat in the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

, his general views being strongly Republican, while he consistently opposed protectionist trade policies. Menier was the author of several works on fiscal and economic questions, notably ''L'impôt sur le capital'' (1872), ''La Réforme fiscale'' (1872), ''Economie rurale'' (1875), ''L'Avenir économique'' (1875–1878), ''Atlas de la production de la richesse'' (1878) and, published in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

by G. P. Putnam's Sons,

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in 1878, ''France And The United States: Their Present Commercial Relations Considered With Reference to a Treaty of Reciprocity'

(''downloadable'') Émile-Justin Menier was made an

Officer of the Legion of Honor 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 society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1878. He died at Noisiel-sur-Marne in 1881 and was interred in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His sons Henri and

Gaston Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) * Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston ...

succeeded him in the business. Members of the Menier family would run the chocolate company until 1959. In 1898, a statue of Émile-Justin Menier was erected in the town square in Noisiel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menier, Emile Justin 19th-century French politicians Chocolatiers 1826 births 1881 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Emile Justin Officers of the Legion of Honour 19th-century French businesspeople

See also

References