Lionel Poilâne French, 1945 - 2002
The inheritor of the Poilâne bakery from his father, it was Lionel who saw it become a world famous bread-making empire. He began as an apprentice at aged 14 and although originally despondent, soon became inspired to see the beauty in bread-making. Purportedly, Poilâne once even used his skills as a baker to bake a set of furniture constructed out of bread for the renowned surrealist artist Salvador Dali. Poilâne understood the importance of both tradition and modernity, opening a machine breadworks in 1983 but never forgetting the traditional
