Catherine Dior (1917 - 2008)

The remarkable story of Christian Dior’s sister, WW2 French Resistance fighter, and concentration camp survivor.

“Miss Dior is Catherine Dior and her strong spirit is contained in the perfume.”

So wrote Justine Picardie, in her 2022 biography of Catherine Dior.

The younger sister of designer Christian Dior, Catherine was born in 1917 Granville, France. When Dior met Hervé des Charbonneries on a Cannes shopping trip in 1941 little did she realise the path that this encounter would take her on. Charbonneries was a Resistance fighter and Dior would join the cause, transmitting reports to London and using her older brother’s Paris apartment to host meetings.

However, in 1944 Dior was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo. Bravely, Dior refused to betray her comrades. Instead she was sent to a prison and a series of concentration camps. Narrowly avoiding being sent on a death march, Dior was released in April 1945. On her return to Paris Dior was so thin that even her brother didn’t recognise her at first.

Needless to say Dior had been through unimaginable horrors. Apart from testifying against her torturers, Dior would never really speak about her experiences again.

She was awarded several medals of honour, and chose to fill her life with flowers, living for the most part a quiet life on the family farm in Provence. There she would grow roses and jasmine to be used in Dior perfumes.

It is said that Christian Dior named the perfume Miss Dior after his sister - a sweet tribute to a remarkably strong and brave woman.

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