Jules Gravereaux

Jules Léopold Gravereaux (French pronunciation: ​[ʒyl leɔpɔld gʁavəʁo]; 1 May 1844 in Vitry-sur-Seine – 23 March 1916 in Paris) was a French rosarian. He was a top executive at the department store Le Bon Marché and in 1892 purchased land at the village of L'Haÿ about 8 km south of Paris. There, he built the first ever complete garden devoted exclusively to roses, the Roseraie de L'Haÿ. It became so popular that a few years later the village changed its name to L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

His parents were Jean Narcisse Gravereaux, carpenter, and Marie Henriette Gervais. In March 1856, at age 12, he was apprenticed to a hatter of rue du Bac. He was hired two years later by the haberdashery of Aristide Boucicault and wife. In 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Boucicault bought the land in front of their shop to build Le Bon Marché. Jules Gravereaux began at Le Bon Marché in 1864 as a private seller and moved up the ranks. He joined the board in 1871.

In August 1873, he married Laure Marie Alexandrine Thuillier (1852-1932). They had seven children. Two of whom died in infancy.

Mrs. Boucicault had no children and at her death, she bequeathed all her shares of Le Bon Marché to its employees based on their seniority. Present since the beginning, Jules Gravereaux inherits enough to retire in 1892 at age 48.

While working for Le Bon Marché he became interested in roses while on textile buying trips to Lille. In 1892, he bought a large property in L'Haÿ and hired the famous landscape architect Édouard André to lay out a garden of 1600 roses. Here he hybridized his own roses and made his own rose oil for perfume.

Roseraie de L'Haÿ reached peak capacity at 8000 roses in 1910, every type known at the time.

Jules Gravereaux died in Paris March 23, 1916.

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