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Givaudan
A maker of synthetic odorants founded by the chemist Léon Givaudan in Zurich in 1895, at Vernier beside Geneva from 1899, and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange today.
Not affiliated Radler Parfums is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Givaudan. Names and marks belong to their owners; this page is a historical note.
By its own account in 1925 it made artificial musks by the kilo and vanillin among a long list of synthetics, at Geneva and at a Lyon works opened during the war. Roche bought it in 1963 and the Grasse house Roure-Bertrand in 1964; it became independent again in 2000 and in 2007 bought Quest International, which carried the line of Chiris.
The record
Each field carries its evidence: open a chip for the source, the quoted words and the confidence. A field with nothing behind it says so and stays empty.
- Name
- Givaudan
documented
L. Givaudan SA est achetée en 1963 par Hoffmann-La Roche à Bâle
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- Kind
- aroma-chemical company
house classification
the house’s own reading, labelled as such
the grouping on /houses: what the firm was chiefly known for in the sources read
confidence B
- Founded
- 1895 (year)
documented
Entreprise de fabrication de parfums et arômes synthétiques fondée en 1895 par l'ingénieur chimiste Léon Givaudan
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- Founders
- Léon Givaudan
documented
fondée en 1895 par l'ingénieur chimiste Léon Givaudan
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
the same sentence: his brother Xavier gave financial backing (“avec l’appui financier de son frère Xavier”)
confidence A
- Léon Givaudan
- Places
- Zurich, a synthesis laboratory on the Weinbergstrasse (founded in)
documented
un laboratoire de synthèse de produits odorants à la Weinbergstrasse à Zurich
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- Geneva from 1898, then Vernier from 1899 (works)
documented
L'entreprise déménage à Genève en 1898, à Vernier en 1899
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- Lyon, a works opened during the war of 1914–1918 (works)
documented
notre Usine de Eyon, créée pendant la guerre
PFAP-1925 · La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation · read 2026-10-08
the firm’s own notice of 1925; “Eyon” is the OCR of Lyon
confidence B
- Zurich, a synthesis laboratory on the Weinbergstrasse (founded in)
- Documented work
- artificial musks, 300 g a day in 1895–1896 and near 200 kg a day by 1925, by the firm’s own account
documented
En 1895-1896, nous fabriquions nous-mêmes 300 grammes de Muscs artificiels par jour
PFAP-1925 · La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation · read 2026-10-08
confidence B
- vanillin · made at its works by 1925, with heliotropin, coumarin and the ionones
documented
tels que Vanilline, Héliotropine
PFAP-1925 · La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation · read 2026-10-08
the firm’s 1925 list of the synthetics it made in quantity
confidence B
- Jean Carles · founded in 1946 the perfumery school that is today the Givaudan Perfumery School
documented
- artificial musks, 300 g a day in 1895–1896 and near 200 kg a day by 1925, by the firm’s own account
- What it became
- acquired by Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel (1963)
documented
L. Givaudan SA est achetée en 1963 par Hoffmann-La Roche à Bâle
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- acquired Roure-Bertrand Fils of Grasse, through Roche (1964); the two traded as Givaudan-Roure
documented
qui acquiert en 1964 la société Roure-Bertrand, fabrique de produits aromatiques à Grasse, fondée en 1820 (d'où le nom de Givaudan-Roure SA de 1991 à 2000)
HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens · read 2026-10-08
confidence A
- became an independent listed company again, after leaving Roche (2000)
documented
creating the foundation of Givaudan which became an independent, publicly traded company in 2000
GIV-EXPANSION · Givaudan · read 2026-10-08
confidence B
- acquired Quest International (2007), which carried the line of the Grasse house Chiris · Antoine Chiris
documented
it added the branch of history that links our roots to the Chiris empire
GIV-EXPANSION · Givaudan · read 2026-10-08
the page dates the acquisition of Quest International to 2007 in the sentence before
confidence B
- acquired by Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel (1963)
- Today
- a listed company: its shares trade on the SIX Swiss Exchange (checked 2026-10-08)
documented
- Wikidata
- Q509544
documented
"qid": "Q509544"
WD-1 · Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) · read 2026-09-30
the Wikidata item read for this house (its English label: Givaudan S.A.)
confidence A
- Where the sources disagree
- When Givaudan and Roure were joined: the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland dates the name Givaudan-Roure SA from 1991; Givaudan’s own history says Roche merged the two in 1992. (HLS-GIVAUDAN, GIV-EXPANSION)
Sources
- GIV-EXPANSION · Givaudan. “Givaudan's ongoing story of expansion”, the company’s own account. www.givaudan.com/our-company/rich-heritage/250-y… · read 2026-10-08 · all rights reserved (© Givaudan); no reuse licence (quoted, not reproduced)
- GIV-SCHOOL70 · Givaudan. “Givaudan Perfumery School celebrates 70th anniversary (media release, 21 Sep 2016)”, the company’s own account. www.givaudan.com/media/media-releases/2016/givau… · read 2026-10-08 · all rights reserved (© Givaudan); no reuse licence (quoted, not reproduced)
- GIV-SHARE · Givaudan. “Share price (investor information)”, the company’s own account. www.givaudan.com/investors/investor-information/… · read 2026-10-08 · all rights reserved (© Givaudan); no reuse licence (quoted, not reproduced)
- HLS-GIVAUDAN · Jean de Senarclens. “Givaudan”. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), online edition. hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/041914/2007-07-30/ · read 2026-10-08 · CC BY-SA (the Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse’s own notice for its articles)
- PFAP-1925 · La parfumerie française et l’art dans la présentation. Paris: La Revue des marques de la parfumerie et de la savonnerie, 1925 (the houses’ own notices, with essays on the trade). Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de santé (Paris) copy, Internet Archive item BIUSante_pharma_res008536. archive.org/details/BIUSante_pharma_res008536 · read 2026-10-08 · Licence ouverte / Open licence Etalab (the rights statement of the BIU Santé digitisation, as the Internet Archive item states it)
- WD-1 · Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation): the items named on each record (each statement read with its references), read 2026-09-30. www.wikidata.org · read 2026-09-30 · CC0 1.0
© Joe Radler / Radler Parfums. All rights reserved. No reuse without written permission. Terms. Quoted source text stays under its owners’ terms.
this record as data: /data/house/givaudan.json · version 1 · updated 2026-10-08 · confidence B