Frans, Baron Van den Bergh (1 May 1914 in

Merksplas Merksplas () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city ...

– 21 October 1990 in

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

) was a Belgian businessman, who founded the cigar factory ''Alto'' in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and who would become one of the leading managers of

Janssen Pharmaceutica Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen Pharmaceuticals) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Ph ...

. In addition to his success with Alto, he was by the marriage of his daughter Lea related to Margriet Fleerackers, the mother of Dr. Paul Janssen. For these reasons, he was asked by the parents of Dr. Paul Janssen,

Constant Janssen Dr. Jan Constant Janssen (18 September 1895 – 15 April 1970) was a Belgian physician and businessman. He was the third child (out of four) of Adriaan Victor Janssen (1854–1942) and Anna Catharina Eelen (1855–1929). He went to hig ...

and Margriet Fleerackers, to help them manage the growing family business with its five branches. In 1961, he became President of the Management Board of

where he would stay until 1980, when he was succeeded by Baron Luc Wauters. He led the negotiations with

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

which resulted in the acquisition of Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1961. It was Frans Van den Bergh who suggested the name ''Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V.'' for the company, which was accepted by Dr.

Paul Janssen Paul Adriaan Jan, Baron Janssen (12 September 1926 – 11 November 2003) was a Belgian physician. He was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company with over 20,000 employeesPaul Lewi, Obituary of Dr Paul Janssen (1926–20 ...

, and this name has been in use since 10 February 1964. Baron Van den Bergh would also been appointed by the Belgian government as the 6th chairman of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN form 1975 until 1986.

Sources

Janssen Pharmaceutica

In memoriam Dr. Paul Janssen
1914 births 1990 deaths Flemish businesspeople Janssen Pharmaceutica people Belgian barons {{Belgium-business-bio-stub