Early Life
Being born the son of a perfumer in Grasse is nothing unusual, and my father was not yet famous at the time. What I felt was different was my family’s thinking about beauty and philosophy: high expectations of quality, originality and uncompromising beauty.
Michel Roudnitska
Michel Roudnitska was born in Seine-et-Marne, France, in 1948, to the great perfumer Edmond Roudnitska (in Japanese) and Thérèse.
Born to parents working in the perfume industry, Michel had been familiar with the smells of the laboratory since around the age of seven.
Actual training began at 24, when Michel started studying under Edmond to learn about the business. For at least five years, Michel trained by analyzing and reconstructing the ingredients of Edmond’s perfumes, and Edmond would not be satisfied unless this was done with accuracy at the 1% level. Moreover, chromatography (in Japanese) did not exist at the time, so this was extremely difficult.
From the teenage years onward, Michel tried not to ask, “Do I want to become a perfumer?” There was pressure from the family, and it was regarded as the natural path. This led Michel toward interests in other directions: photography, sculpture and architecture. In particular, Michel would devote thirty years or more to photomontage, a technique for combining parts of photographs.
Life as an Artist
Michel used this talent to create covers for magazines including VOGUE, illustrations for books and advertising brochures for Air France. Many articles in specialist photography magazines also featured Michel’s work.
With a strong drive to explore the arts, Michel used multiscreen slide-projection techniques to produce sound and laser shows for Christian Dior and jewelry brands, as well as prestigious shows and ballets in France and Australia. Michel also spent eight years in French Polynesia, coauthored a book with a philosophical writer, created advertising imagery for jewelers and established a publishing company.
Combining modern science and art, Michel became one of the first people in France to integrate synthetic images with new colors into audiovisual spectacles. Later, Michel began experimenting with digital-video techniques to visualize scents and perfumes. These techniques have been used for Michael Edwards’s book, Fragrances of the World, and to express Diorissimo, created by Michel’s father.
The Return of the King
Only after my father died in 1996 was I finally able to truly devote my life to the perfume industry.
Michel Roudnitska
At forty, Michel decided for the first time to create a “real” perfume, although what was created then was not for commercial sale.
When the strict father died in 1996, Michel took over the company Edmond had founded, Art et Parfum, and began creating perfumes as if freed from the spell of being the son of a great perfumer. The first perfume Michel sold was Frédéric Malle (in Japanese)’s Noir Épices. The result, combining chypre (in Japanese) and oriental styles, was wonderful: even if it did not surpass Edmond’s work, it was no less accomplished.
Thus, having returned to the perfume industry, Michel Roudnitska carried on Edmond’s vision, established a company called Art de Composer le Parfum (“The Perfumer’s Art”) and has continued working diligently.
By the Way…
Incidentally, Michel met Jean-Claude Ellena (in Japanese), a close friend of Edmond Roudnitska, at around eighteen. In 1975, Ellena’s request to illustrate fragrant raw materials prompted Michel to begin researching connections between smell and sight. Michel, too, was influenced by Ellena.
In the 1990s, Michel also sometimes worked with Ellena at Haarmann & Reimer (in Japanese), where they became close friends. They were so close that, when Michel married in 1994, Ellena served as Michel’s wedding attendant.
Michel’s favorite raw material is jasmine (in Japanese). Michel says it is sensual yet pure, and seems to express the scent of paradise.
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