How did the perfume "Krasnaya Moskva" appear, which became a symbol of the achievements of Soviet perfumery

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This perfume was familiar to everyone in the USSR. A glass bottle with a red onion-shaped lid was the object of desire of many Soviet fashionistas. They stood on the dressing table in many apartments, and on the street, in transport and various organizations, one could catch its slightly intoxicating smell with hints of cloves. They say that French women of fashion also enjoyed using the perfume "Krasnaya Moskva". But in the country of victorious socialism, they did not even know who was actually behind the creation of the most popular fragrance.

The perfume "Krasnaya Moskva" was brought to the court of the general public in 1925, and the perfume and soap factory "New Zarya" was behind their creation. In turn, this factory appeared after the revolution, but it arose on the basis of the “Brocard and Co” factory of Heinrich (Henri) Brocard. He founded his factory in 1864. Initially, the company employed only two people, but after 8 years the first store was opened.

After the death of the perfumer in 1900, the family business was headed by the wife of Henri Brocard Charlotte and the guest French perfumer August Michel.

There are two legends about the history of the "Krasnaya Moskva" fragrance. According to one of them, the perfume composition was created by the perfumer of the Brocard factory for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on the occasion of the birth of the heir to the throne, Alexei.

Another legend says that the fragrance called "The Empress's Favorite Bouquet" was created for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and was presented to Alexandra Fedorovna in 1913. Heinrich Brocard was awarded the title of "Supplier of the court of His Imperial Majesty" for creating a stunning fragrance that so attracted the empress.

After the revolution of 1917 and the creation of the Novaya Zarya factory, August-Michel allegedly simply recreated the fragrance that the empress loved.

However, perfume expert Galina Anni claims that there is no evidence or refutation of any of the legends, although the fragrance "The Empress's Favorite Bouquet" is still kept in the archives of the Novaya Zarya factory.

The perfume expert is sure that even if any of the legends are true, it was simply impossible to completely recreate the composition in 1924-1925 in the Soviet Union. The thing is that at that time the USSR simply did not have all those fragrant substances with which Brocard's factory worked before the revolution. Some of them have simply gone out of circulation in more than ten years, and some have definitely been replaced. But, of course, the main character of the fragrance was preserved. There was a violet-iris accord in it, which was emphasized by carnation, orange blossom, ylang and bergamot.

By the way, not a completely new composition was taken as a basis. She had already appeared in L'Origan in 1905 and was created by François Coty. Later, Jacques Guerlain used the main notes in his fragrance "Twilight", which appeared in 1912.

Despite the fact that there is no documentary evidence of the identity of the Empress's Favorite Bouquet and Krasnaya Moskva, some collectors, in whose collections both fragrances were kept, argue that the legend is completely true. And the fragrances, despite some changes, are still very similar.

August Michel could well have reproduced the scent. After the revolution, as you know, the perfume industry was not going through its best times. At that time, factories produced not fragrances at all, but soap distributed by cards.

It was at that time that the former leaders of Brocard's factory did not go anywhere, but to Lenin himself. As the main argument why it is necessary to leave the perfume factory, and not transfer its building to Goznak, as planned, they cited the fact that they managed to keep stocks of raw materials and essential oils in the basements.

The new Zarya perfume and soap factory was headed by Evdokia Uvarova, who, fortunately, was not only an ardent revolutionary, but also the ideological inspirer of the preservation of Brocard's heritage. She left to work at the factory of August Michel, who later taught Soviet perfumers himself. Again, as luck would have it, the French perfumer August Michel loved Russia. With a Russian wife and some problems with documents, he could not leave the country after the revolution. He personally trained two people who later became the founders of the Soviet perfumery school - Pavel Ivanov and Alexei Pogudin.

In Soviet times, the participation of August Michel in the birth of the fragrance "Krasnaya Moskva" and in the emergence of the Soviet perfumery school was not mentioned anywhere. Only in 1991, when Antonina Vitkovskaya became the head of the Novaya Zarya factory, did the legend of the creation of the most popular aroma in the USSR go to the masses.

However, at that time the perfume "Krasnaya Moskva" was no longer in vogue, and imported ones began to replace the heavy floral-oriental scent back in the 1970s. It is true, however, that most of the perfumes were delivered to the Soviet Union in single copies. They were available, in fact, only to the ruling elite, and even to those who were on business trips abroad. However, for many "Krasnaya Moskva" remains a note of nostalgia for the past when this fragrance came from the hands of my mother …

The first Soviet perfumes appeared immediately after the revolution. Since ancient French perfume factories have been operating in Russia since the 19th century, the new production also relied on this experience. The established traditions have preserved a decent level of quality, and very quickly the legendary aromas were presented to the citizens of the USSR. The release of "Krasnaya Moskva" did not stop during the Great Patriotic War. Courageous "Chypre" dizzy even the most sensible young ladies. And the universal "Triple" was the only perfume to which Comrade Stalin was not allergic.