- Erno Laszlo
Erno Laszlo, Ernő László (
11 July 1897 – March 1973) was aHungaria n-born Americandermatologist and cosmeticbusinessman who founded The Erno Laszlo Institute.Early life
Laszlo studied skin
pathology and skin disease at theRoyal Hungarian Elisabeth University of Medical Sciences inBudapest, Hungary , and completed his clinical studies in Berlin, Germany, underMax Joseph .In 1920s, back in Budapest, he achieved notoriety when
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium tried one of his skin preparations. Soon women from all ranks of society wanted to see Laszlo for skin and make-up advice.He married the actress
Iren Gombaszoegi , whom he met while treating her sister, actress Frida Gombaszoegi, for scars from bullet wounds in her face.In 1927, Laszlo opened his first institute in Budapest.
The Erno Laszlo Institute
In 1939, at the onset of
World War II , Laszlo moved toNew York . OnNovember 3 ,1939 , theNew York Herald Tribune reported that the Erno Laszlo Institute, specializing in beauty treatments and cosmetics, had leased a floor in a building on 677 Fifth Avenue,Manhattan . Laszlo's poor command of the English language threatened his institute, for despite the efforts of a language coach he could not pass the American Medical Association's accreditation examinations.In the early 1940s,
Helena Rubenstein approached Laszlo and offered to buy his business, but he declined. In 1945, Laszlo became aUnited States citizen .The Erno Laszlo Institute was aimed at the rich, famous and powerful. One needed to be recommended to gain admittance. Among his clients were the
Duchess of Windsor and theDuke of Windsor Gloria Vanderbilt ,Doris Duke ,Greta Garbo ,Lilian Gish , andTruman Capote . In the 1960s, the list grew to include theBegum Aga Khan ,Audrey Hepburn ,Yul Brynner ,Hubert de Givenchy , andJacqueline Kennedy Onassis .In 1966 Erno Laszlo entered the retail marketplace, with partner
Chesebrough-Ponds , which later bought the Erno Laszlo Institute.In April 1967, Erno Laszlo's wife, Iren, died of
leukemia . Three years later, in 1970, he marriedSibille Schulz in a ceremony nearLugano, Switzerland .The company after Laszlo's death
In 1995, the company Erno Laszlo had founded was bought by
Mana Products fromElizabeth Arden . Mana Products' founder,Nikos Mouyiaris , had once worked for Erno Laszlo as a chemist. Since the beginning of 2002, Erno Laszlo has been a part ofCradle Holdings .The products, although mainly targeted at the female market, are unisex.
External links
* [http://www.ernolaszlo.com Official Product Website]
* [http://www.thehungarypage.com/businessandpolitics.htm Famous Hungarians]
* [http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo29/erno_laszlo.htm Biography]
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