Henri Robert: An Eye for Iris, Expressed in Chanel N°19

A Life in Perfumery

Henri Robert was born in Grasse in 1899. His father, Joseph Robert, had been chief perfumer at Chiris. He was an outstanding perfumer who taught François Coty (in Japanese) the art of perfume creation, as well as a pioneer in the development of solvent extraction (in Japanese). In other words, he revolutionized both the perfume industry and the production of raw materials.

In 1919, the young Henri worked at Chiris in La Bocca alongside his father, Joseph, as well as Ernest Beaux (in Japanese), Chanel’s first in-house perfumer; Henri Alméras (in Japanese); and Vincent Roubert, who created Iris Gris for Jacques Fath. Henri later began working at D’Orsay, where in 1923 he created the house’s most famous perfume, Le Dandy.

Following Coty’s death, Robert became chief perfumer at Coty (in Japanese) in 1934. In 1936, he created Muguet des Bois, the first lily-of-the-valley (in Japanese) fragrance in history. In 1945, he began consulting for the American perfume industry in New York. The following year, he became head of Les Fils de Joseph Robert, a company specializing in natural fragrance materials, and founded Henri Robert Inc. as Synarome’s American representative.

In March 1949, he ceased representing Synarome. In September, he took over management of the De Laire division of Dodge & Olcott, chaired by Joseph F. Rudolph, who had represented Fabriques de Laire in the United States for at least 50 years.

He returned to France in 1950 and served as chief perfumer at the De Laire laboratory. In 1952, he was recruited by Chanel’s (in Japanese) perfume division. Succeeding his former colleague and senior, Ernest Beaux, as Chanel’s second in-house perfumer, he created Pour Monsieur (1955), Chanel’s first men’s fragrance; No. 19 (1970); and Cristalle Eau de Toilette (1974), co-created with Edmond Roudnitska (in Japanese).

He (Henri Robert) did not merely compose perfume formulas; he was also an expert in raw materials. The key to N°19 is the exceptionally high-quality iris (in Japanese) Henri selected. Although it accounts for only 1% of the formula, it is what makes N°19.

Jacques Polge, Chanel’s third in-house perfumer

In 1973, to establish Chanel’s chromatography (in Japanese) laboratory, he hired Maurice Roucel (in Japanese), then in his early twenties, as a chemist. In 1977, he brought François Demachy, just 28 years old, into Chanel as a perfumer. When Robert retired in 1978, he handed the role of in-house perfumer to Jacques Polge (in Japanese). Robert died in 1987.

Incidentally, Guy Robert (in Japanese), who created Hermès Calèche (1961) and Madame Rochas (1960), was his nephew. Guy’s son, François Robert (in Japanese), has created many perfumes for Les Parfums de Rosine.

Perfume Creations