- Source: Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche
Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, later Fritz Hoffmann-von der Mühll (1868 – 1920), was a Swiss businessman who founded the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-LaRoche & Co.
Early life
Fritz Hoffmann was born in Basel, Switzerland on 24 October 1868, the third child of Friedrich Hoffmann and Anna Elisabeth Merian. His godparents were his maternal grandfather Johan Heinrich Merian von der Mühll; his uncle, the Mayor of Basel, Carl Felix Burckhardt von der Mühll; and Anna Von der Mühll. His family were wealthy businesspeople from Basel's social elite ("the Daig"). They provided both employment experience and investment at the beginning of his business career.
In the 1870s and 80s, Hoffman completed primary and high school in Basel and advanced to complete an apprenticeship at a bank in the francophone part of Switzerland. When he returned to Basel in 1889, he entered a second internship at a pharmaceutical company. Between 1891 and 1892 he worked in London, and between 1892 and 1893 in Hamburg to further his experience in chemistry-related business. Upon his return to Basel, his father became a shareholder of his former employer, who gave Fritz a leading position in the business.
Marriages and children
On 2 May 1895, Hoffmann married Adèle La Roche (1876–1938). It was a common practice in Switzerland for married couples to hyphenate the name to incorporate both surnames, so from this point he was often referred to as Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche.
They had two sons, Emmanuel (4 May 1896, Basel – 3 October 1932, Basel) and Alfred (25 July 1898–1987). The couple were divorced in 1919.
Hoffman remarried, to divorcée Elisabeth von der Mühll, also of the Daig (1882–1970).
His grandson Luc Hoffmann married Daria Razumovsky (1925-2002). She was the second child of Count Andreas Razumovsky and Princess Katharina Nikolajevna Sayn-Wittgenstein, who fled Russia in 1918 after the October Revolution. Together they had four children: Vera, Maja, André, and Daschenka.
Business career
In 1894, he formed a company with Max Carl Traub (1855–1919) called Hoffmann, Traub & Co., which manufactured a limited range of pharmaceutical and chemical products. His father contributed the majority of the capital, and Traub some patents and contracts. In 1896, Traub left the company. Hoffman , and it was renamed F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co.
According to Peyer (see below),
"For his time, Fritz Hoffmann was unusually interested in product promotion and paid attention to all aspects of publicity from simple advertising to packaging and promotion of key individuals such as pharmacists. He also built up international contacts for raw materials and product sales, and supported research. Following the setback of the 1st World War, these factors helped the company to recover and expand. He retired from the board of the company because of ill-health in 1919 and died the following year."