Antoine Gilles Menier

Who was Antoine Gilles Menier?

Antoine Gilles Florent Menier was a French businessman and municipal politician who was a member of the prominent Menier family of chocolatiers.

Born in Paris, Antoine Menier was the eldest of the four sons of Georges Menier and Simone Camille Marie Legrand. He studied at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris but had little interest in business and did not go on to advanced studies. Instead, he used his wealth to pursue a life of sporting activities. An auto racing enthusiast, Antoine Menier set a number of records driving Alfa Romeo vehicles in hillclimbing events.

In 1933 Antoine Menier became the mayor of Lognes, a town about 2 miles south of the family's factories in Noisiel. He held the mayoral position until 1945 when his uncle Jacques Menier died. Since 1871, Menier family members had been the mayor of the town of Noisiel and Antoine replaced his uncle Jacques as Noisiel's mayor. He held that office until 1959 but was the last Menier to be the town's mayor.