Charles C. Ritz (born Karl Cäsar Alexander Ritz; August 1, 1891 – July 11, 1976) was a French hotelier and

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

specialist. Like his father

César Ritz César Ritz, born Cäsar Ritz (23 February 1850 – 26 October 1918), was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the The Ritz London Hotel, Ritz and Carlton Hotel, London, Ca ...

, he was the owner and manager of

Hôtel Ritz Paris The Ritz Paris is a hotel in central Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arrondissement. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxur ...

Biography

Charles Ritz was the first of two sons born to Swiss hotelier

(born 1850) and Marie-Louise Beck (born 1867), whose family also owned and ran a hotel in

Menton Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a Commune in France, commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italia ...

. He did not know his itinerant father well, and César died in 1918 when Charles was 27 years old. Charles Ritz emigrated to the United States in 1916 where he became a soldier in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

ended, Ritz returned to the US, and soon spent considerable time mastering the art of fly-fishing in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. He married Elisabeth Pierce. Ritz returned to France in the 1930s. His experience with

made him one of the foremost specialists on the subject.

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

called him, "One of the finest fly fisherman I know". Ritz wrote a book, ''A Fly Fisher's Life'', which has been read by anglers around the world. It has been regarded as one of the landmarks of fly fishing literature. He invented the parabolic fly-rod, a term coined by Everett Garrison, a famous

bamboo fly rod A bamboo fly rod or a split cane rod is a fly fishing fishing rod, rod that is made from bamboo. The British generally use the term "split cane." In the U.S., most use the term "bamboo." The "heyday" of bamboo fly rod production and use was an app ...

maker. Fly rods of this type were commercially produced by

Paul H. Young Paul Holden Young (b. Arkansas, 1890 – d. Michigan, April 28, 1960) was a master bamboo fly rod maker, fly tyer and fly fishing innovator. The work of Paul Young is greatly admired by angling, anglers and collectors today. Early life Paul ...

Abu Garcia ABU Garcia, originally AB Urfabriken ( Swedish: "Watch Factory Ltd."), then ABU Svängsta, is a fishing reel and equipment manufacturing company founded in Svängsta, Sweden, and is now owned by Pure Fishing conglomerate of the United States ...

, Pezon et Michel, and Jim Payne among others. He was a publicist for the high speed - high line style of fly casting (HSHL). He founded the "Fario Club", which was the most select fishing club in the world during the later part of the twentieth century. Charles Ritz spent several years assisting his mother managing the Ritz Hotel, and assumed presidency of the empire in 1953, when his mother Marie-Louise retired. Marie-Louise returned to her husband's village in Switzerland, Niederwald, during the summer and set up the Ritz Foundation specifically for Niederwald's youth. The foundation pays for scholarships and apprenticeship programs. Marie-Louis passed away in 1961. He attempted to introduce his progressive ideas when he opened ''le bar Vendôme'' and the ''l'Espadon'' restaurant but found himself hampered by the board of directors. Ritz remarried in 1971 and retired from the hotel presidency in 1976, three months before his death. He is buried in

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

alongside his first wife.

References

*''A fly fisher's life'', Charles C. Ritz - Crown Publishers - Rev. and enl. ed edition (1973) generally agreed to be one of the best books on fly fishing skills ever written. *''Ritz, une histoire plus belle que la légende'' - Claude Roulet - Editions Quai Voltaire (1998) *César Ritz, ''Paris: Hôtel Ritz'' (1938) - a biography of César Ritz written by his wife, Marie-Louise Beck {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritz, Charles Swiss non-fiction writers Swiss male writers Angling writers 1976 deaths 1891 births Swiss hoteliers Fly rod makers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French hoteliers 20th-century non-fiction writers French male non-fiction writers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...