Quick Facts
- Born:
- May 3, 1874, Ajaccio, Corsica
- Died:
- July 25, 1934, Louveciennes, Fr. (aged 60)
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
François Coty
French businessman
François Coty (born May 3, 1874, Ajaccio, Corsica—died July 25, 1934, Louveciennes, Fr.) was a French perfume manufacturer who acquired newspaper interests to advance his right-wing political and social views.
By 1900 Coty’s small perfume business had become highly successful. In 1905 he opened a plant near Paris and during World War I became one of the wealthiest men in France. He gained control in 1922 of Le Figaro, a conservative Paris daily. To check the growth of French Socialism and Communism, he founded two other daily papers in 1928. Subsidized by the perfume business, both papers sold at half the price of other dailies and enjoyed wide circulation. In later years his wealth was much reduced.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica
Privacy Policy
and
Terms of Use.