Background
Constantin Weriguine was born in Saint St. Petersburg, the son of an aristocrat and officer of the Russian hussars.
Constantin Weriguine was born in Saint St. Petersburg, the son of an aristocrat and officer of the Russian hussars.
He studied chemistry at Lille Catholic University and interned at the Parfums de Luzy, working under Claude Fraysse.
He was schooled in Yalta and served as an officer of the Horse Artillery of the Imperial Guard during World War I. After the war, he lived in Constantinople and Pančevo, before obtaining a visa for France. In 1926, he was hired as a perfumer at Chanel and Bourjois, seconding Ernest Beaux. He created some thirty perfumes at Bourjois, most notably, and assisted Beaux in the creation of another twenty at Chanel and Bourjois, including Soir de Paris (1928), Bois des Îles (1929), Cuir de Russie (1935) and Kobako (1936).
During World World War II, Weriguine was conscripted into the Service du travail obligatoire and sent to a chemical plant in Munich.
After the war, he resumed his work at Chanel and Bourjois, eventually seconding Henri Robert from 1954 to 1962. He was subsequently hired at Rhône-Poulenc.
He released his memoirs, Souvenirs et Parfums, in 1965, before retiring in 1977. Towards the end of his life, he served as vice president of the French Society of Perfumers.
Several of his major works are archived in their original form at the Osmothèquebec