 The firm was founded in 1822, in Ergué-Gabéric, near Quimper, Brittany by Nicolas Le Marié (1797-1870), as a paper manufacturer named "papeteries d'Odet".Beginning in 1863, it was directed by Jean-René Bolloré (1818–1881), a nephew by marriage who had obtained a medical doctorate in 1863.The firm remained owned by the Bolloré family.