Jacques Guerlain

Names: Jacques Guerlain (English, French) · Жак Герлен (Ukrainian, Russian)
Born: 7 October 1874, Colombes, France — Died: 2 May 1963, Paris
Specialization: the third master perfumer of the house Guerlain, author of Shalimar and Mitsouko

The grandson of the house's founder Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain. At 16 he began studying under his uncle Aimé Guerlain, in 1894 he officially joined the family business, and in 1899 he became master perfumer. Over his lifetime he created, by various estimates, between 80 and 400 fragrances — among them legends still in the Guerlain collection today: Après l'Ondée (1906), L'Heure Bleue (1912), Mitsouko (1919), Shalimar (1925) and Vol de Nuit (1933). He was a passionate art collector — his collection included canvases by Monet, Manet and Gauguin.

Jacques Guerlain is a poet and painter among perfumers. He wrote fragrances the way the Impressionists painted pictures: light, mood, the moment. His compositions are the legendary “Guerlinade”: velvety vanilla, iris, tonka beans and bergamot merging into a warm, powdery, inimitable harmony. More than a hundred years later, Shalimar and Mitsouko are still considered the benchmark of the perfumer's art.