Marcel Bich

Marcel Bich
Born	(1914-07-29)29 July 1914 Turin, Italy
Died	Paris, France
Nationality	French
Engineering career
Institution memberships	Bic
Significant projects	ballpoint pens, lighters, razors

Marcel Bich (Turin, Italy, 29 July 1914 – Paris, France, 30 May 1994) was a manufacturer and co-founder of Bic, the world's leading producer of ballpoint pens.

Early years

Marcel Bich was born in Turin, Italy on July 29, 1914, the son of a Aosta Valley engineer, Aime Mario Bich, who held the title Baron which had been conferred on his great-grandfather, Emmanuel Bich in 1841. Bich became a French citizen in his thirties before studying law at the University of Paris.

Business success

In 1945, Marcel Bich and his partner, Edouard Buffard, bought an empty factory near Paris, France. Bich’s knowledge of the writing instrument trade, gained while working as a production manager for an ink maker, had them starting with production of fountain pen parts and mechanical lead pencils in Clichy, France.

In 1950, Marcel Bich purchased the patent for the ballpoint pen for $US2 million from Hungarian László Bíró who had been producing such pens since 1943 in Argentina.

The company formed by Bich still exists as the Société Bic Group and is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Yacht racing and sailing

Bich was a keen sailor. He funded four campaigns to compete in the trials to select a challenger for the America's Cup in 1970, 1974, 1977 and 1980, and was inducted, posthumously, into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1998.

Death

He died on May 30, 1994 in Paris, aged 79.

External links

• BIC Corporate History
• Obituary, The Independent