Monument to Marguerite Boucicaut at her birth place, Verjux, Saône-et-Loire, France (b/w photo)

Marguerite Boucicaut (née Guérin) (1816-87) French business woman, philanthropist and humanitarian; her early years were spent as a goat herd in Verjux, moving to Paris at the age of 13, where she worked as an apprentice laundress, learnt to read and write and opened a small bistro; later, with her husband, Aristide, she participated in the creation and development of the 'Bon Marché' as the largest Department Store in the world in the late 19th century; after her husband's death in 1877, she continued to play an important role in the continuance of the shops; she was a benefactor of many charities, founding the Boucicaut hospital, financing the work of Pasteur and developing further the concept of pastoral and 'family' welfare including the provision of pensions for the Bon Marché employees; the bulk of her immense fortune was left to the Bon Marché staff; she also left money for the construction of a bridge over the river Saône, a new school, a new Mairie and a home for old people in the region of her old home at Verjux; the development of department stores was a major force in democratising consumption and making society more egalitarian by giving women the freedom and ability to shop on their own;