Sign in
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet
Photo: Cgraysonwatson1996, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons15

Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet

French businessman (1906–1996)

Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (21 August 1906 – 11 April 1996) was a French entrepreneur and advertising magnate best known as the founder of Publicis Groupe.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 12, 1906, died Apr 11, 1996.1

About

He is also credited with inventing radio advertising in France, helped create the first French opinion polls, introduced Édith Piaf to the French public, and fought with the Free French forces during World War II.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

Born the youngest of nine, he was the son of Abraham Bleustein, a poor Russian-Jewish used furniture salesman in northern Paris, Marcel Bleustein left school at the age of 12 to help out in the family furniture business.

He founded Publicis in 1926 in a small apartment above a butcher's shop. In 1935, he purchased Radio LL from the radio manufacturer Lucien Lévy. He renamed it Radio Cité, and introduced France's first news broadcasts as well as its first radio jingles. Radio Cité also helped launch singer Édith Piaf.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: advertising person, French resistance fighter, businessperson, entrepreneur.7

  • Date not recordedFounded Publicis-Orly3
  • Date not recordedFounded Publicis4
  • Date not recordedFounded Marcel-Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation for the vocation5
  • Date not recordedFounded Point de vue6

Personal life

  • BornAug 12, 1906, Enghien-les-Bains8
  • DiedApr 11, 1996, 16th arrondissement of Paris9
  • CitizenshipFrance10
  • SpouseSophie Vaillant11

The Bleustein-Blanchets had three daughters. Marie-Francoise (born in 1940) died in a car accident in 1968, and Elisabeth (born in 1944) became the heir apparent to the Publicis fortune in 1996 and one of modern France's greatest intellectuals.

The family practiced Judaism and Catholicism simultaneously. Marie-Francoise's untimely death in 1968 put an immense strain on the couple's marriage, but they nonetheless remained devoted to one another until Marcel's death on April 11, 1996.

In addition to his Jewish and Catholic faith, Bleustein-Blanchet also had an active interest in Eastern religions and believed in reincarnation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • Date not recordedCroix de guerre 1939–194512
  • Date not recordedGrand Officer of the Legion of Honour12
  • Date not recordedOfficer of the ordre de la Santé publique12
  • Date not recordedResistance Medal12

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15