Marie Harel

Marie Harel
Replacement statue
Born	(1761-04-28)April 28, 1761 Crouttes (Orne)
Died	November 9, 1844(1844-11-09) (aged 83) Vimoutiers (Orne)
Nationality	France
Known for	Invention of Camembert Cheese

Marie Harel (born Marie Catherine Fontaine; April 28, 1761 – November 9, 1844) was a French cheesemaker, who, along with Abbot Charles-Jean Bonvoust, invented Camembert cheese, according to local legend. She worked as a cheesemaker at the Manor of Beaumoncel and made Camembert cheeses according to local custom. Her main contribution was to have initiated a dynasty of entrepreneurial cheesemakers who developed the production of Camembert cheese on a large scale, notably her grandson Cyrille Paynel, born in 1817, who created a cheese factory in the commune of Le Mesnil-Mauger in Calvados at France.

Marie Harel was born Marie Catherine Fontaine on April 28, 1761, at Crouttes (Orne), near Vimoutiers in Normandy. On May 10, 1785, in Camembert, Orne, she married Jacques Harel, a laborer at Roiville. She died November 9, 1844, at Vimoutiers, Orne.

Since the end of the 17th century, a renowned cheese was being produced in the Camembert region of Normandy. In his Geographic Dictionary, published in 1708, Thomas Corneille wrote: "Vimonstiers: [...] every Monday a large market is held, to which are brought excellent cheeses from Livarot and Camembert." However, according to a later legend which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, the invention of Camembert cheese was attributed to Marie Harel who would have benefited from the advice of a refractory priest, Abbot Charles-Jean Bonvoust, who was hidden in 1796-97 at the Manor of Beaumoncel where she worked. Supposedly, he was a native of Brie and passed along to Marie a recipe for a kind of cheese with a bloomy edible rind, such as was produced in his native area. In reality, Bonvoust came from Pays de Caux. This apocryphal story, for which there is no evidence, is still often accepted as true.

Marie Harel did make Camembert cheese, according to local custom. She initiated a dynasty of entrepreneurial cheese makers who produced Camembert cheese on a large scale, notably her grandson Cyrille Paynel, born in 1817, who created a cheese factory in the commune of Le Mesnil-Mauger in Calvados.