Jacques Corrèze

Who was Jacques Corrèze?

Jacques Corrèze, a French businessman and politician, was the former chief executive officer of the United States operation of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty products. He was the secretary of Eugène Deloncle.

Corrèze was a member of La Cagoule, a violent fascist-leaning and anti-communist group. During its early period, Eugène Schueller, founder of L'Oreal, provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oréal headquarters.

During the Second World War both Jacques Correze and Eugene Schueller, as well as many other L'Oreal executives, were very active supporters of the Vichy regime. When the Gestapo did a raid on Deloncle's home, killed him and injured gravely his son Louis Deloncle, Corrèze was present but escaped. He later married Deloncle's widow.

After the war Corrèze was convicted of a number of crimes, and sentenced to ten years in prison in France. He was released after serving five years and shortly thereafter became a senior executive at L'Oréal and Chairman of Cosmair, a private US company and the sole licensee of L'Oreal in the USA.