Édith Besnard was born in 1908. She was the youngest of three children. Her parents were artists (her father, Robert, was a sculptor, and her mother and grandfather were painters). She didn't know her father very well; he died for France a few years later in 1914 on the field of honor.
In 1925, she married Henri Filipacchi. Henri would become the general secretary of the Hachette publishing house and the creator/inventor of the Livre de Poche (Pocket Book).
On January 12, 1928, Edith gave birth to Daniel. Daniel would become famous many years later by creating SLC Salut les Copains. He would also be the buyer of Paris Match, among other things
Holiday Clubs
In 1948, Édith partnered with Dimitri Philippoff and Lionel Marcu to create the Club des Jeux Olympiques in Calvi on land she owned. The following year, the club was renamed Club Olympique.
In 1950, she joined forces with Paul Morihien and the Lazareff family to co-found the Villages Magiques, a resort designed for readers of ELLE magazine.
What a wonderful woman, assisted by Lionel Marcu! The Olympic Club is an
institution and holds very fond memories. I worked there; the bay of Calvi is magnificent…
Have you met him?
Yes, of course, in 1980…
Yes, very nice, when I worked there in 1978, we really got along well.
I worked at the club in 1967-1968-1969.
Naturally, Mrs. Philipachi was very active within the Olympic club, as was Mr. Marcu.
I have very fond memories of the club and of Calvi.
I saw Mrs. Philipachi again in 1974 and we exchanged some memories.
I spent part of my childhood there; my parents worked for them at the club. They were the club's caretakers, and I remember feeding lots of cats... also for Mrs. Filipacchi.
And I also knew Mr. Marcu.
The Olympic Club was my first employer in 1977, and I worked there for two summer seasons. Mr. Marcu was a wonderful person whom I greatly admired (I regretted not being able to meet him a few years later in Paris because our appointment was canceled; I would have loved to see him again to express my gratitude).
So many wonderful memories: volleyball matches every evening. Mr. Marcu swam every day.
He inspired me to pursue a career in the tourism industry (holiday clubs, hotels, etc.).
The Olympic Club exuded joy and happiness.
Mrs. FHILIPPACHI was driving around the Club in her green Méhari. What impressed me at the time was seeing her cats fly in to accompany her throughout the season.