Antoine Courtois

Antoine Courtois established his shop in Paris in 1803. He was succeeded by his son Denis Antoine in 1844 and in 1856 August Mille started working for the company. When Denis died in 1880 he had no descendants; August Mille took over the company and added his name. In 1895 Emile Delvaux & Amedee Legay took over the company and Mille's name was no longer used. In 1917 the company was purchased by Emmanuel Gaudet and in 1934 his son Paul became co-manager together with Emile Deslaurier. In 1937, Paul bought out Deslaurier to become sole owner, but as he was drafted into WWII shortly after, the company had to shut down. Paul was eventually imprisoned as Prisoner-of-War in Stalag XX. In 1944 Paul was liberated and the company was back in business. Son Jacques Gaudet took over in 1980. In the 1990's they joined Gerhard Meinl to form the Meinl Group. In 1994 Meinl became part of Triumph-Adler AG and the Courtois division was sold to JA Musik, that in its turn was bought by Buffet Crampon in 2006. In 2013, Buffet Crampon moved Courtois manufacturing to Markneukirchen, the former B&S factory. As part of the Buffet Crampon Group, the brand Antoine Courtois still exists today.