Where was the fragrance Chanel No. 5 born? The Murmansk legend of the eminent perfumer Ernest Beaux

As is often the case, the answer lies not in legends, but in facts. In 1918, an intervention took place in the Russian North. Ernest Beau, as an officer of the French army who was well-versed in Russia, was sent as part of the French contingent of Allied forces. He participated in the events surrounding the anti-Bolshevik uprising.

Alexey Alekseevich Kiselyov, a local historian of the Murmansk region, a specialist in the history of the Russian North, Doctor of Historical Sciences– told the print edition of AiF na Murman in 2023 the following:

"During the Civil War, he was a sailor in the French Navy. It was 1918-1919, when the ship was in the roadstead, the sailors had nothing much to do, so the French often walked around Murmansk. One day, Ernest Bo wandered onto Semenovskoe Lake. A summer day, a breeze from the sea, the air is saturated with moisture... He carried this scent with him throughout the war years."

Let us also turn to Konstantin Mikhailovich Verigin's book "Memoirs of a Perfumer", which quotes from a public lecture by Ernest Bo, delivered on February 27, 1946. In it, the master of perfumery talks about the creation of his iconic fragrance:

"People ask me, how did I manage to create Chanel No. 5? I created this perfume in 1920, when I returned from the war. Part of my military campaign took place in the northern countries of Europe, beyond the Arctic Circle, during the midnight solstice, when the lakes and rivers exude a special freshness. I have preserved this distinctive scent in my memory, and after much effort and work, I was able to recreate it, although the first aldehydes were unstable."

The granddaughter of perfumer Natalie Bo in her biographical book "Chanel No. 5: the story of the creation of the legend, its aroma" cites letters from the eminent grandfather. The following lines from the book confirm Ernest Bo's stay in Murmansk:

"I am instructed to deliver a large batch of platinum to Murmansk along with voluminous correspondence from the French embassy in Petrograd, in addition, I also have an order, as a train (Petrograd - Murmansk), to take Prince Arsen Karageorgievich, general of the Russian army, as well as his adjutants to our military representative. My task is completed, I get to Kandalaksha, a port on the White Sea, where a detachment of the 102nd heavy artillery regiment is located."

In the same book, the master's lines about the Arctic are given, where he discusses his return from service. Ernest Beau describes a scent he could not wait to recreate in France:

"This aroma is closely related to the vision of the midnight sun in the landscapes of the Arctic — the region where lakes and rivers exude a aroma of exceptional freshness. This fragrance haunts me, I really want to try to capture and recreate it when I return to France."

These words allow us to assume that not only the landscapes and aromas of the Russian North, but also the Kola Arctic inspired Ernest Bo to create one of the most recognizable perfume masterpieces in history.