Yves Rocher (7 April 1930 – 26 December 2009) was a French businessman and founder of the cosmetics company that bears his name. He was a pioneer of the modern use of natural ingredients in cosmetics..

Early life

Yves Rocher was born in the village of

La Gacilly La Gacilly (; Gallo: ''La Gaczilhae'', ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is located on the right bank of the Aff River, about north of Redon, on the train line between Vannes and Rennes and a ...

, Morbihan, where he grew up. After the death of his father when he was 14,. he helped his mother in running the small family textiles business. A local healer gave him the recipe for a

hemostatic An antihemorrhagic () agent is a substance that promotes hemostasis (a process which stops bleeding). It may also be known as a hemostatic (also spelled haemostatic) agent. Antihemorrhagic agents used in medicine have various mechanisms of action: ...

ointment based on the

lesser celandine ''Ficaria verna'' (formerly ''Ranunculus ficaria'' ), commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and d ...

flower, and he decided to sell the ointment by mail order with adverts in the magazine '' Ici Paris''..

Business career

Natural products and mail order sales were the pillars of the cosmetics company he founded in 1959. The company expanded rapidly and, three years later, he opened his first shop. Yves Rocher retired from the company in 1992, passing control to his son Didier, but returned to the helm after Didier's death in 1994. His grandson Bris was named vice-president in 2007, and took over the company completely after Yves Rocher's death in 2009.. The company had an estimated value of two billion

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s in 2007, and employs 15,000 people. The Yves Rocher group achieved a turnover of 2.5 billion euros in 2017.

Civic activity

Yves Rocher was also active on the political scene in southern

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He was mayor of

from 1962 to 2008,. and was also elected to the General Council of

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

in 1982 and the Regional Council of Brittany in 1992. His company has been instrumental in the economic development of the area around La Gacilly, with factories, development laboratories and a botanical garden. Rocher was sometimes criticised for being the area's main employer as well as its political representative..

Awards

Yves Rocher was made an officer of the

Légion d'honneur 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 1992 and a commander in April 2007. He was also a member of the Order of the Ermine. According to the company's website and founder mission, Yves Rocher was opposed to the testing of products on animals, once commenting, "If you have to test your 'products' on animals, you don't know what you're doing."

Death

Yves Rocher died in the Lariboisière Hospital in Paris on 26 December 2009 after suffering a stroke.. He was buried in La Gacilly on 30 December in the presence of 5000 people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocher, Yves 20th-century French businesspeople French cosmetics businesspeople People from Morbihan 1930 births 2009 deaths Businesspeople from Brittany