Marcel Bich

Marcel Bich, Baron Bich (French: [bik]; 29 July 1914 – 30 May 1994) was an Italian-French manufacturer and co-founder of Bic, the world's leading producer of ballpoint pens, lighters and razors.

Early years

He was born in Turin, Italy, on 29 July 1914 to Aimé-Mario Bich (1882–1955) and Marie Muffat de Saint-Amour de Chanaz (1886–1967). His family moved to Spain and then to France where he was naturalised as a French citizen in 1932 and later studied law at the University of Paris. He served in the French Air Force at the outset of World War II.

The Bich family originated at Châtillon, and earlier in the Valtournenche valley, in the Aosta Valley. King Charles Albert of Sardinia granted Emmanuel Bich, mayor of Aosta, the title of baron in 1841. Emmanuel's grandson Aimé-Mario Bich, the father of Marcel Bich, was an engineer who moved to France after failing to gain commercial success in Italy.

Business success

In 1944, Marcel Bich and his partner, Édouard Buffard, bought an empty factory in the Paris suburb of Clichy, where they began the production of inexpensive pen holders and pencil cases.

Bich was originally a skeptic of ballpoint pens, which at the time were unreliable and leaked. In 1946, however, by observing the channel made by the wheel of his wheelbarrow in the ground, he understood the unique selling point of the ballpoint pen. Just as the wheel made transporting items easier, the ball could allow the hand to be free from the constraints of the pen nib and make writing more fluid.