André Bettencourt

André Bettencourt (April 21 1919 – November 19 2007) was a French politician. He had been awarded the Croix de Guerre, and is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He served as a cabinet minister under Pierre Mendès-France and Charles de Gaulle, and was awarded for his bravery in the Resistance against the Nazis.

Biography

He was born in Saint-Maurice-d'Etelan (seine-Maritime) in an old catholic normand family. He is the descendant of a famous navigator called Jean de Béthencourt. He served in several posts in the government of France, most notably as interim minister of foreign affairs for two weeks in the spring of 1973. He also served as President of the regional council of Haute-Normandie from 1974 to 1981. In addition, he was the mayor of Saint-Maurice-d'Etelan from 1965 to 1989.

Controversy

In his youth, Bettencourt was a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group. Eugène Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at the L'Oréal headquarters. In the 1990s, Jean Frydman turned up the fact that Bettencourt had written several articles for a Nazi propaganda organ during World War II. From 1940 to 1942, Mr. Bettencourt wrote more than 60 articles for La Terre Francaise, a newspaper that flourished with German Nazi financing during the occupation of France. In a special Easter issue in 1941, he described Jews as 'hypocritical Pharisees' whose 'race has been forever sullied by the blood of the righteous. They will be cursed' .

Honors

He was elected a member of the "Académie des beaux-arts", one of the five academies of the Institut de France, as an unattached member on March 23, 1988.

Family

In 1950, Bettencourt married Liliane Bettencourt (née Schueller), daughter of Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty products. Together, they have one daughter, Françoise Meyers, who is a member of L'Oréal's board of directors. Françoise Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, who had lost both his parents in Auschwitz concentration camp.

ee also

*L'Oréal
*Jacques Corrèze
*Liliane Bettencourt
*La Cagoule

External links

* [http://www.academie-des-beaux-arts.fr/membres/actuel/libres/Bettencourt/fiche.htm Biography] (in French)
* [http://www.loreal.com Official website of L'Oréal]
* [http://www.forbes.com/global/2000/1127/0324130a.html Forbes article on L'Oréal]
* [http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/2005/03/18/cz_sh_0318oreal_bill05.html Forbes article on Liliane Bettencourt]
* [http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Bar%20Zohar.html Book Review of Bitter Scent]

References

*Michael Bar-Zohar, "Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oréal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott", Dutton Books, London, 1996, pp. 264.