The Gattefossé Foundation is a corporate foundation. Gattefossé is the last name of the family that created the business company. This foundation pays tribute to one of the company’s funders, René-Maurice Gattefossé, who pioneered modern scientific aromatherapy using essential oils for medical applications in the early 20th century. At the time, the company sold ingredients for perfumery, including essential oils. This man discovered the antiseptic properties of lavender essential oil and convinced hospital doctors to use his formulas to fight certain infections. He is the author of numerous publications and is behind the neologism “Aromatherapy”, which became a common word after the publication of his book of the same name in 1937.
René-Maurice Gattefossé
In 2008, the Gattefossé group (www.gattefosse.com), supplier to the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, created a public interest corporate foundation. At the heart of integrative medicine, the Gattefossé Foundation is pursuing the philanthropic vision of René-Maurice Gattefossé by encouraging the use of aromatherapy as a complementary therapeutic approach to conventional allopathic medicine to improve patient’s conditions.
The Foundation fosters clinical research, encourages its use in hospitals in France and promotes aromatherapy practitioners and their clinical experience.
It partners with the integrative health ecosystem and international networks of professional clinical aromatherapy associations.
