Marguerite Boucicaut, 1887 (engraving)

Marguerite Boucicaut (née Guérin) (1816-87); French business woman, philanthropist and humanitarian, co-founder with her husband, Aristide Boucicaut, of the Bon Marché Department Stores in Paris; born into a peasant family, her early years were spent as a goat herd in Verjux, moving to Paris at the age of 13, where she worked as a laundress and learnt to read and write; with her husband she participated in the creation of the 'Bon Marché' as the largest Department store in the world in the late 19th century and after her husband's death in 1877, she continued to play an important role in the continuance of the shops; she was a benefactor of many charities, founding the Boucicaut hospital, financing the work of Pasteur and developing further the concept of pastoral and 'family' welfare including the provision of pensions for the Bon Marché employees; the bulk of her immense fortune was left to the Bon Marché staff; the development of department stores was a major force in democratising consumption and making society more egalitarian by giving women the freedom and ability to shop on their own; illustration from an obituary in 'Le Monde Illustré' magazine;