Édouard Michelin (23 June 1859 – 25 August 1940) was a French industrialist. He was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Édouard and his elder brother André served as co-directors of the Michelin company.
Edouard seemed destined for a career as an artist, but around 1888 he and his brother Andre returned to Clermont-Ferrand in order to try to save the failing family business, then a manufacturer of agricultural tools, drive belts and hoses. In 1889, he improved greatly on the design of the pneumatic tyre for bicycles, making tyres easier to change and repair. The invention proved its worth in the Paris–Brest cycle event organized by the newspaper Le Petit Journal in September 1891,[1] and Michelin quickly adapted his inflatable tyres for use on motor vehicles, of which France was becoming the world's leading producer. Success came rapidly, and already in 1896 approximately 300 Paris taxis were running on Michelin pneumatic tyres. His company went on to experience tremendous growth serving the fledgling industry around the turn of the century and beyond.
In the traumatic weeks that followed the German invasion of May/June 1940, world events overshadowed Michelin's death. Nevertheless, by the time he died he had built Michelin into a major industrial force, with many "firsts" in wheel and tyre technology to its credit. He had overseen the acquisition of the (then bankrupt) Citroën