Erno Laszlo
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Erno Laszlo, Ernő László (11 July 1897 – March 1973) was a Hungarian-born American dermatologist and cosmetic businessman who founded The Erno Laszlo Institute.
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[edit] Early life
Laszlo studied skin pathology and skin disease at the Royal Hungarian Elisabeth University of Medical Sciences in Budapest, Hungary, and completed his clinical studies in Berlin, Germany, under Max Joseph.
In 1920s, back in Budapest, he achieved notoriety when Princess Stéphanie of Belgium tried one of his skin preparations. Soon women from all ranks of society wanted to see Laszlo for skin and make-up advice.
He married the actress Iren Gombaszoegi, whom he met while treating her sister, actress Frida Gombaszoegi, for scars from bullet wounds in her face.
In 1927, Laszlo opened his first institute in Budapest.
[edit] The Erno Laszlo Institute
In 1939, at the onset of World War II, Laszlo moved to New York. On November 3, 1939, the New York Herald Tribune reported that the Erno Laszlo Institute, specializing in beauty treatments and cosmetics, had leased a floor in a building on 677 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Laszlo's poor command of the English language threatened his institute, for despite the efforts of a language coach he could not pass the American Medical Association's accreditation examinations.
In the early 1940s, Helena Rubenstein approached Laszlo and offered to buy his business, but he declined. In 1945, Laszlo became a United States citizen.
The Erno Laszlo Institute was aimed at the rich, famous and powerful. One needed to be recommended to gain admittance. Among his clients were the Duchess of Windsor and the Duke of Windsor Gloria Vanderbilt, Doris Duke, Greta Garbo, Lilian Gish, and Truman Capote. In the 1960s, the list grew to include the Begum Aga Khan, Audrey Hepburn, Yul Brynner, Hubert de Givenchy, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
In 1966 Erno Laszlo entered the retail marketplace, with partner Chesebrough-Ponds, which later bought the Erno Laszlo Institute.
In April 1967, Erno Laszlo's wife, Iren, died of leukemia. Three years later, in 1970, he married Sibille Schulz in a ceremony near Lugano, Switzerland.
[edit] The company after Laszlo's death
In 1995, the company Erno Laszlo had founded was bought by Mana Products from Elizabeth Arden. Mana Products' founder, Nikos Mouyiaris, had once worked for Erno Laszlo as a chemist. Since the beginning of 2002, Erno Laszlo has been a part of Cradle Holdings.
The products, although mainly targeted at the female market, are unisex.
