Edmond Roudnitska : A Tribute

Edmond Roudnitska was more than just a creator of fragrance. He also devoted much of his time to understanding the true sense of the words "to create" and "Creation".

Despite being born in Nice (in 1905) in the South of France not far from Grasse, fragrance capital of the world at that time. Roudnitska actually entered the fragrance industry lacking a vocation that his was later to discover. With no background in perfume, he learnt everything from scratch but was soon promoted to take charge of the physico-chemical control of a fragrance company.
A year later, Roudnitska was sent to the Paris area to take over from a top perfumer of the company where he was essentially self-taught. A fantastic career followed thanks to all his work and efforts as well as his creative genius. His entire life was a constant creation.

Through the course of his life. Roudnitska met many influential people from the world of fashion, art and science. Among the most prominent were Marcel Rochas, Christian Dior and Emile Hermès from whom he created his best known fragrances which are still on sale on the international market today.

The first was Femme from Rochas in 1944, which was to be an original interpretation of chypre. It is a flowery, aldehydic fragrance, very fruity with woody and crystallized characteristics. After this came Rose (1948) and Moustache (1948), the first real men's fragrance of its period suggested by his wife, Therese. Moustache foreshadows Roudnitska's philosophy of creation - clear, simple and restrained.

This floral dominant theme was to remain in his men's fragrance until Eau d'Hermès. In the meantime, his created his own company, Art et Parfum, based in Courbevoie then located in Cabris near Grasse, also his home. In 1951 he created Eau d'Hermès. This was relaunched in 1987 for House's 150th anniversary. The fresh, spicy fragrance with hints of warm cinnamon and cardamom is reminiscent of fine leatherwear.

Next came Diorissimo for Christian Dior in 1956, an interpretation of lily of the valley, Dior's favorite flower. He continued with l'Eau Fraîche, Diorama then in 1966 came the well-known classic, Eau Sauvage. This fragrance was considered turning point in fragrance creation but according to Roudnitska it all started with Diorissimo.
With the new chemical notes, perfumers began to incorporate heavier quantities of fruit and vanilla notes in order to soften the harsh character of these chemical elements. This is why these fragrances were reminiscent of candy. As a reaction to this trend, Roudnitska worked on lighter, fresher, more fluid olfactive notes. Diorissimo, Eau Sauvage and in 1972 Diorella (which is not the feminine version of Eau Sauvage as has often been stated) are the perfect illustrations of his rebellion.

To completely understand Roudnitska's career, it is necessary to go beyond his fragrance creations. He had a real passion for flowers and plants and a sense of beauty and the knowledge of coherence. His world was fragrance and Roudnitska spent 30 years of his life studying the science of aesthetics, including the installation of new educational tools for perfumers to learn and memorize all the different odors. He was an enemy of mediocrity and a defender of aesthetics. He contributed much to the understanding of the mechanism of creation and how to mix new accords in order to obtain olfactive harmony. Intuition was very important for him in the creative process.

In the same way there were no rules for him in fragrance creation, only workings methods. He worked in collaboration with Etienne Souriau from the Sorbonne and a member of l'Institut de France, French Academy of fine arts. Many of his works have been published in this book, Une Vie au Service du Parfum (Therese Vian Editions).

Roudnitska was also a great defender of the artistic nature of fragrance creation and was very concerned that profit and beauty should not be incompatible in making a good perfume. He always argued that the industry was too concerned with profit at the expense of a sense of beauty.

The great principles of Roudnitska on aesthetics and perfume creations as well as his fragrances themselves will be among us for a long time. And of course his son Michel Roudnitska, has followed impressively in his father's footsteps, thus ensuring longevity of Roudnitska name in the world of perfumery.