François Blanc
| François Blanc | |
|---|---|
 Portrait | |
| Born |
December 12, 1806 Courthézon |
| Died |
July 27, 1877 (aged 70) Loèche-les-Bains |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Businessman, Property developer |
| Spouse(s) |
Madeleine-Victoire Huguelin Marie Blanc |
| Children |
Camille Blanc (1847–1927) Charles Blanc (1848–1872) Louise Blanc (1854–1911) Edmond Blanc (1856–1920) Marie-Félix Blanc (1859–1882) |
| Relatives | Princess Marie Bonaparte (granddaughter) |
François Blanc (12 December 1806 – 27 July 1877), nicknamed "The Magician of Homburg" and "The Magician of Monte Carlo", was a French entrepreneur and operator of casinos, including the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco.
Her daughter Marie-Félix married Roland Bonaparte and had issue.
Biography
François was born on December 12, 1806 with his twin brother Louis. They grew up in a small town and were impressed every time circus came with a show - it seemed so interesting and simple so they followed the circus to learn all the tricks of the trade, boys were dreaming to become rich and successfull and learnt so much and worked on different jobs. Finally, they started to work in gambling business in Marseilles and earning some money brothers decided to develop their business and started to speculate on government pensions and got into real estate development. In that way they attracted attention to their business and were arrested, but not for a long time because law was not adopted yet for such cases. They were released and moved to Paris, but after King Louis Philippe passed new laws they had to move again - to Luxembourgh. They run profitable business there but It was just the first little step to their success in Hesse-Homburg near Frankfurt, where brothers signed a contract with a monarch because of debts of the city and in order to develop tourism industry. It turned to a great success, Homburg became popular in a moment with a lot of entertainment, gambling houses, hotels - all the richest and famous came there for new emotions and fun. In a while François Blanc was given the name "The Magician of Homburg". Later, the government of Frankfurt decided to go against gambling as they felt that their region do not need help anymore and attractiveness for tourists would stay for a long time without support. But Homburg could attract people only in summer months, during cold winter all the tourists preferred to rest in warmer places. It gave an idea to François to move to South and open all-year business. It happened that the Prince of Monaco had recently legalized gambling, so "The Magician of Homburg" became that first person who opened new horizons to Monaco. He invested his money in roads, railways to make people come to Monaco as a new place of rest and fortune. His new King gave François a freedom, so he turned from "The Magician of Homburg" to "The Magician of Monte Carlo" and he left his mark in a history of Monaco.
References
- Edwards, Anne (1992). The Grimaldis of Monaco: The Centuries of Scandal - The Years of Grace. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-08837-8.
- Mad for Monaco: The Magician of Monte
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