Henri Menier

Henri Menier

Henri Emile Anatole Menier (July 14, 1853 - September 6, 1913) was a French businessman and adventurer and a member of the Menier family of chocolatiers. Born in Paris, he was the son of Emile-Justin Menier and grandson to Antoine Brutus Menier who founded the Menier Chocolate company. On his father's death in 1881, Henri Menier became mayor of Noisiel, 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, Henri Menier spent a great deal of his time and money pursuing various leisure interests, notably yachting and auto racing. As the eldest son, Henri Menier was the titular head of the company but the day-to-day management would mostly be left to his very capable brother Gaston.

A member of the governing council of the Yacht Club de France, Menier studied naval architecture and yacht design. He owned several large sailing and steam powered yachts and journeyed to numerous European ports and with his a group of friends including René Waldeck-Rousseau, sailed north to Iceland and Norway. Menier undertook a three-year-long voyage through the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. He also sailed across the Atlantic Ocean several times to visit a large island property he owned in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.

When automobiles made their debut, Henri Menier was one of the few who could afford them. He became a racing enthusiast and helped found the Automobile Club de France which would organize the 1906 French Grand Prix, the world's first Grand Prix motor racing event, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans. Menier took part in the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup Paris to Innsbruck auto race and won the silver medal in the touring car category.

Avid hunters of deer on horseback, Henri Menier and his brothers acquired more than 13,000 acres (53 km²) of forested land in the Picardie region as well as in the Val-d'Oise département where Henri owned a château in the town of Vauréal. In April 1913 Henri Menier also bought the Château de Chenonceau in France's Loire Valley which today is still owned by family members and is a major tourist attraction.