Maurice Bunau-Varilla
Maurice Bunau-Varilla was a French press magnate, and proprietor of the newspaper Le Matin. During the Second World War, he made the newspaper's editorial line pro-German and pro-collaborationist, and it ceased publication 16 days after his death. Bunau-Varilla admired Adolf Hitler more out of his anti-Communist leanings than out of Nazi conviction.
Bunau-Varilla developed and promoted Synthol as a cure-all tonic. Now known as a mouthwash and hair product, as well as a treatment for muscular pain, it is still sold in France.
He was the brother of Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, engineer and diplomat who was instrumental in the building of the Panama Canal.
