Berlitz Corporation

Berlitz Corporation

Type	Subsidiary of Benesse Corporation
Industry	Leadership training, language services
Founded	Providence, Rhode Island July 1878
Founder	Maximilian Berlitz
Headquarters	Princeton, New Jersey
Number of locations	500+
Area served	70 countries
Key people	Mark W. Harris (CEO)
Parent	Benesse Corporation
Website	www.berlitz.com

Berlitz Corporation is a global leadership training and language education company with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island. Berlitz Corporation is a member of the Benesse Group, with more than 547 company-owned and franchised locations in more than 70 countries.

Berlitz started in 1878, when Maximilian Berlitz was in need of an assistant French instructor; he employed a Frenchman by the name of Nicholas Joly, only soon to discover that Joly barely spoke English, and was hired to teach French to English speakers in their native language. The first Berlitz language school opened in Providence, Rhode Island in July 1878. A decade later, Berlitz moved to Boston, Massachusetts and opened additional schools. Soon after, he opened schools in New York and New Jersey. In 1886, he moved the headquarters and his personal residence to New York City. Before the year 1900 Berlitz opened another eight schools across the country.

By the time of the start of World War I in 1914, there were over 200 Berlitz Schools worldwide. Maximilian Berlitz died in 1921. His son-in-law and associate, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, assumed leadership of the business. Harrison died in 1932, and control passed briefly to his son, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, Jr. The control of the company was thereafter passed to Jacques Strumpen-Darrie. Jacques' son Robert succeeded his father as president in 1953.

In the 1950s, Berlitz opened its first Latin American language center in Mexico, following with locations in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile. In 1966, Berlitz reached Asia, starting with a language center in Tokyo. Today there are more than 90 Berlitz centers in Asia.

In 1966, Berlitz became a subsidiary of Macmillan, Inc. Robert Strumpen-Darrie continued as president until his retirement in 1970, and Elio Boccitto led the company through most of the 1980s. In November 1988, Maxwell Communication Corporation took over Macmillan, and just a year later, Berlitz was made public.

In 1993, Fukutake Publishing Co. Ltd., now known as the Benesse Corporation, a Japanese publisher of correspondence courses and other educational materials, began purchasing Berlitz stock. In 2001, Berlitz became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benesse Corporation.