Entrepreneur,  Politician.  The son of business magnate Jean-Antoine Menier.  He built Menier Chocolate into France’s largest chocolate manufacturer,  a position it held for nearly a century.   Born in Paris,  he was trained as a pharmacist and also studied economics and law.  He took over the family’s pharmaceutical and chocolate-making establishments after his father suffered a debilitating stroke in 1849.  Under his leadership the firm switched exclusively to chocolate production in 1863 and within a decade had factories in Noisiel (near Paris),  the Somme,  and London,  cocoa-growing plantations in Nicaragua,  and a distribution center in New York.  By 1880 he had 2000 employees and was turning out 100,000 tons of candy annually. Menier was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1878.  He was elected Mayor of Noisiel in 1871 and to the French National Assembly in 1876,  serving in both positions until his death.  The company was inherited by his sons,  Henri and Gaston Menier. (bio by: Bobb Edwards)