page_title: Marie-Louise Jaÿ
section_title: Philanthropy
hierarchical_section_title: Marie-Louise Jaÿ / Philanthropy
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Cascade du Jardin botanique alpin 'La Jaÿsinia' de Samoëns (France). English: Waterfall of the Jaÿsinia in Samoëns (France). Español: Cascada del Jardín Botánico Alpino La Jaysinia de Samoëns (Francia).
context_page_description: Marie-Louise Jaÿ was a French businesswoman who started work as a shop girl.
  With her husband Ernest Cognacq she created the La Samaritaine store in Paris, which grew into a chain of large department stores.
  Innovations included good lighting, clearly marked fixed prices, and allowing customers to pick out their own clothes and try them on before buying.
  The couple were active in philanthropic work, and gave out bonuses for large families during the population crisis that followed World War I.
context_section_description: Marie-Louise created the 35 hectares (86 acres) Jaÿsinia botanical garden in her home town of Samoëns, opened to the public on 3 September 1906.
  It holds more than 5,000 plant species from five continents.
  She also built a house for a doctor who was housed at no cost in exchange for giving care to the needy.
  Ernest offered his home town the collections of a local scholar, which became the basis of Ernest Cognacq museum in Saint-Martin-de-Ré.
  Between 1900 and 1925 Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jaÿ assembled an important collection of 18th century art, which they meant to exhibit in their store La Samaritaine de luxe, opened in 1917.
  It included paintings, books and faience, and in 1928 was bequeathed to the City of Paris to become the Musée Cognacq-Jay.
  From 1914 the employees were given shares in the company.
  65% of profits were redistributed to employees, who also received benefits such as a free canteen.
  During World War I (1914–18) the couple created the Fondation Cognacq-Jaÿ, which was recognised as a public utility on 2 December 1916.
  The foundation's projects were often mostly for the benefit of their employees.
  It ran a nursery, convalescent home and nursing home in Rueil-Malmaison, a school in Argenteuil, a maternity clinic in Paris, an orphanage and nursing home in Haute-Savoie and alms-houses in Levallois-Perret.
  The couple were childless.
  In 1920 they gave the Académie française a fund of 100 million francs to reward 300 deserving large families each year in an effort to boost the birth rate after the war.
  In 1922 they added 16 million francs to reward parents aged 35 or older with six children.
caption: Jaÿsinia garden in Samoëns
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