Jean-Paul Elkann (28 December 1921 – 23 November 1996) was a French banker. He was president of Compagnie Financière Jean-Paul Elkann (CFJPE).

Biography

Early life and education

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 ...

, Jean-Paul Elkann was the son of

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

-born industrialist Armand Elkann (1882–1962) and his wife Berthe Bloch. He was raised at

Lycée Janson de Sailly In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

. He was admitted to study at Polytechnique in 1940 but left France with his family to escape the anti-Jewish persecutions.

Refugee in New York

Elkann continued his studies in the United States and received a Bachelor of Science degree from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

in 1943 while living at

The Pierre The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 61st Street (Manhattan), East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze and Weaver, Schultze & Weaver, th ...

hotel in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Along with his father, Elkann entered the

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

industry. Soon after, he became the owner and president of the companies Vanadium Steel Italiana from 1948, Vanadium Alloys Steel Canada (since 1950), and Vice President of Vanadium Alloys Steel USA from 1953.

Return to Paris

In 1953, Elkann returned to France and went into the fragrance industry. In 1962, he became president of

Parfums Caron Parfums Caron is a French perfume house founded in 1904 by Ernest Daltroff. Over the course of the years, many Caron Perfumes were created. As of 2019, the brand is owned by Luxembourg-based Cattleya. Foundation Caron was founded in 1904 by E ...

. Thereafter, he became vice president of

Parfums Givenchy Parfums Givenchy () is a French brand of perfumes and cosmetics, known for fragrances L'Interdit, Amarige, Organza, Pi, and Givenchy III. As part of Givenchy, it has been a subsidiary of LVMH since 1988. Presentation The Givenchy perfume br ...

(1980–1983), director of

Christian Dior SA Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of the shares and 57% of the ...

Group, and director of several major French companies. He was also the president of the Consistoire israélite de Paris from 1967 to 1982, then chairman of the

Israelite Central Consistory of France The Israelite Central Consistory of France () is an institution set up by Napoleon I by the Imperial Decree of 17 March 1808 to administer Jewish worship and congregations in France. He also directed the establishment of regional Israelite Consisto ...

from 1982 to 1992, and interim president of the

Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF) () is an umbrella organization of other groups representing the interests of History of the Jews in France, French Jews. Overview It is the official France, French affiliate of th ...

(CRIF) in late 1982, replacing

Alain de Rothschild Baron James Gustave Jules Alain de Rothschild (7 January 1910 – 17 October 1982) was a French banker and philanthropist. Early life Alain de Rothschild was born on 7 January 1910 in Paris, France. His father was Baron Robert de Rothschild, who ...

, who died of a heart attack in October 1982. Although he was himself a non-practicing Jew, he supported the Orthodox movement. As quoted by the

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Michel Gugenheim Michel Gugenheim is the Chief Rabbi of Paris. He also assumed the position of interim Chief Rabbi of France in 2013 after the resignation of Gilles Bernheim, the previous Chief Rabbi of France and remained in that position until the election of Ra ...

, Elkann told the leader of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

in the United States, Alexander Schindler: "The only difference between you and me, Mr. rabbi, is that I violate the law, but I do not change it, and you want to change the law." He was also the vice president of the France-Israel

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

, the chairman of the Association de coopération économique France-Israël,

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Technion governor, administrator of Yabné school, administrator of the

Alliance Israelite Universelle An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, and vice chairman of the Social Action Committee Israelite de Paris (CASIP). In addition to his business career, Elkann served on the board of overseers of

Personal life and death

Elkann married Carla Ovazza (1922–2000), heir to a Jewish banking family in Turin, whom he met at Columbia University; she was the niece of

Ettore Ovazza Ettore Ovazza (21 March 1892 – 11 October 1943) was an Italian banker. He was an early financier of Benito Mussolini, whom he was a personal friend of, and a strong supporter of Italian fascism. He founded the anti-Zionist journal ''La nostr ...

. They had a son,

Alain Elkann Alain Elkann (born 23 March 1950) is an Italian novelist and journalist. Elkann is the host of cultural programs on Italian television. He is president of the Scientific Committee of the Italy–USA Foundation. A recurring theme in his books is ...

, who was born in New York in 1950 and who, in 1975, married

Margherita Agnelli The Agnelli family () is an Italian multi-industry business dynasty family founded by Giovanni Agnelli, one of the original founders of the Fiat motor company which became Italy's largest automobile manufacturer. They are also primarily known for ...

, daughter of the influential Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat,

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat S.p.A., Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial ...

. After divorce, Jean-Paul Elkann married Francoise Schuhl on 9 November 1953, with whom he had a daughter, Brigitte Elkann. He died on 23 November 1996, in Paris.

Honours

* Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, 1988 *

National Order of Merit (France) National Order of Merit may refer to: * National Order of Merit (Algeria) * National Order of Merit (Bhutan) * National Order of Merit (Brazil) * National Order of Merit (Ecuador) * Ordre national du Mérite (France) * National Order of Merit ...

, 1996

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elkann, Jean-Paul French bankers Clothing companies of France Commanders of the Legion of Honour Vanadium 20th-century French Jews 1921 births 1996 deaths Columbia Business School alumni