HCB's birth name

[Daneinbalto]

Somewhere on the internet, I read that Henri Cartier-Bresson took that name later in life, he was born Henri Cartier. I know one can't trust everything on the internet. Can anybody confirm or refute this?

 

[swoop]

His birth name is Henri Cartier-Bresson.

For a short while when he first started out he went by Henri Cartier. As his family name, Cartier-Bresson was associated with his family's very successful and well known thread/textile company.

 

[matt352]

I remember reading in a biography that he dropped the "Bresson" part of his name in an attempt to distance himself from its notoriety. Again, if I remember correctly, the Bresson family were forerunners in textiles and there was some comment in the book that "there wasn't a home in France without a bobbin emblazoned with the Bresson name on it."

 

[swoop]

Excerpt from bio.

 

[Daneinbalto]

Here is a bit of history regarding the Cartier-Bresson Co. (in French).
http://www.thiriez.org/cartierbres.htm

The C-B company was merged with Thiriez in 1925-31. In 1961 THIRIEZ & CARTIER BRESSON merged with a company called DMC (see URL below in English)

http://www.dmc.com/majic/pageServer/0l01000019/en_GB/History.html

The new company kept the trade name of DMC, with THIRIEZ & CARTIER BRESSON contributing the (originally Thiriez) horse's head for the company logo.

I guess the famous CB logo with the cross "CB à la croix" is not used any more, but it can be found on antiques.