Henri Menier | |
|---|---|
 Menier, c.1900 | |
| Born | (1853-07-14)July 14, 1853 |
| Died | September 6, 1913(1913-09-06) (aged 60) Vauréal,Val-d'Oise, France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, adventurer, race car driver |
| Known for | Anticosti Island,Château de Chenonceau |
| Board member of | Menier Chocolate,Automobile Club de France,Yacht Club de France |
| Spouse | Hélène ThyraSeillière |
| Parent | Émile-Justin Menier |
Henri Émile Anatole Menier (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁiemilanatɔlmənje]; July 14, 1853 – September 6, 1913) was a French businessman and adventurer and a member of theMenier family ofchocolatiers. Born inParis, he was the son ofÉmile-Justin Menier and grandson toAntoine Brutus Menier who founded theMenier Chocolate company. On his father's death in 1881, Henri Menier became mayor ofNoisiel, an office he held for 32 years until his death in 1913. The beneficiary of a substantial fortune, and having a large annual income from the family business, he spent a great deal of his time and money pursuing various leisure interests, notablyyachting andauto racing. As the eldest son, he was the titular head of the company but the day-to-day management would mostly be left to his very capable brotherGaston.
A member of the governing council of theYacht Club de France, Menier studied naval architecture and yacht design. He owned several large sailing and steam powered yachts and journeyed to numerousEuropean ports and with his a group of friends includingRené Waldeck-Rousseau, sailed north toIceland andNorway. Menier undertook a three-year-long voyage through theMediterranean andAdriatic Seas, theSuez Canal and theRed Sea. He also sailed across theAtlantic Ocean several times to visitAnticosti Island that he owned in theGulf of St. Lawrence.
When automobiles made their debut, Menier was one of the few who could afford them. He became a racing enthusiast and helped found theAutomobile Club de France which would organize the1906 French Grand Prix, the world's firstGrand Prix motor racing event, at theCircuit de la Sarthe, inLe Mans. Menier took part in the 1902Gordon Bennett Cup Paris toInnsbruck auto race and won the silver medal in the touring car category.
Avidhunters ofdeer onhorseback, Menier and his brothers acquired more than 13,000 acres (53 km2) of forested land in thePicardy region as well as in theVal-d'Oise département where Henri owned achâteau in the town ofVauréal. In April 1913 Henri Menier also bought theChâteau de Chenonceau in France'sLoire Valley which today is still owned by family members and is a major tourist attraction.
In 1895, Menier boughtAnticosti Island at the mouth of theSt. Lawrence River inCanada from a British logging company. Originally granted toLouis Jolliet as aseigniory byKing Louis XIV, it is a large and heavily forested island and at 217 km in length and 16–48 km wide is one-quarter the size of the country ofBelgium.
Menier used it for business as well as a private game reserve, bringing in a variety of wild animals native to Canada includingfoxes,fishers,reindeer,bison andmoose. One of the other species Menier introduced was a herd of 220white-tailed deer who, because there were no natural predators, thrived. The island's deer population is now estimated at well over 100,000. Along with its 24 rivers and streams bountiful withsalmon andtrout, it is today a paradise forpaleontologists,bird watchers,hikers, and a major draw foranglers andhunters, particularly those from theUnited States.
Menier named the 70-metre-high (230 ft)Vauréal Falls on Anticosti Island after the town ofVauréal in France where he owned a home. At Anticosti, he hoped to set up a seigniory that could be self-supporting. He first established a settlement at Bay Sainte-Claire in 1895 but the bay proved too shallow for the large ships he would need. In 1900, he moved the settlement to Ellis Bay and establishedPort-Menier along the waterfront with a 1,000 meterwharf. He invested a substantial amount of money to construct asawmill to service the logging operations that harvested softwood timber for building lumber andWood pulp for the manufacture of paper products. The community was centered on a newcannery business designed to take advantage of the abundant supply offish andlobsters. The town had its own hospital, school,Roman Catholic church, general store, bank, bakery, hotel, plus homes and rooming houses for the workers, and 30-roomScandinavian-style mansion for himself. Once completed, the island was home to 800 permanent residents, most of whom wereFrench Canadians. Residents and businesses obtained supplies from a sailing ship Menier operated betweenQuebec City and theGaspé, and obtainedcoal from the mines atSydney,Nova Scotia.
In June 1911, Menier married Hélène ThyraSeillière who shared his love of the outdoors. However, adiabetic, he died childless a little more than a year after his marriage. He was buried in thePère Lachaise Cemetery. His brother Gaston became the owner of Anticosti Island. He used and maintained it for a time but eventually decided it was not an economically viable proposition and sold it to the Wayagamack Pulp and Paper Company in 1926. Many of the original houses still stand today.
Rue Henri Menier inSept-Îles, Quebec, was named in his honor.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
