Perfumer
Ernest Beaux
Ernest Beaux (1881-1961) was a French perfumer of Russian origin, best known for creating Chanel No. 5, which is widely considered the most iconic fragrance in the world.
Beaux was born in Moscow, the son of Edouard Hyppolite Beaux and Augustine Wilgemina Misfeld. His grandmother, Jeanne-Cléophée Beaux, had emigrated to Russia in the 1840s. Beaux’s half brother, Edouard Francois Beaux, worked for Alphonse Rallet & Co., the leading Russian perfume house and supplier to the imperial courts. In 1898, A. Rallet and Company was sold to the French perfume house Chiris, and Beaux completed his apprenticeship in Rallet’s soap factory before studying perfumery under the direction of the technical director, A. Lemercier.
In 1912, Beaux created the fragrance "Bouquet de Napoleon" to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Borodino, which was a commercial success. The following year, he created "Bouquet de Catherine", a fragrance now lost in honor of Catherine the Great. Beaux served in the French army during World War I, seeing combat in the infantry and working as an intelligence officer and interrogator during the Russian Civil War. While serving, many of his colleagues at Rallet fled to La Bocca, France, to continue working with Chiris.
In 1920, Beaux arranged a meeting with Coco Chanel with the help of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, who was a companion of Chanel. Chanel chose "No. 5" as a Christmas gift for her best clients, and when Beaux asked her what she wanted to call the scent, she replied: "I always launch my collection on the fifth day of the fifth month, so number 5 seems to bring me luck; therefore, I will call it No. 5".
Beaux married Iraïde de Schoenaich in 1912 and they had a son, Edouard. During the Russian Civil War, Iraïde left Beaux for another man, and Beaux took custody of his son. Beaux later married Yvonne Girodon and had a daughter, Madeleine.
Ernest Beaux continued working for Chanel and other perfume houses throughout his career, leaving a legacy as one of the most influential perfumers of the 20th century.
