Gabriel Cognacq

Gabriel Victor René Cognacq (9 October 1880, Paris – 7 June 1951, Seraincourt) was a French department store owner, art collector, and philanthropist.

After completing his basic education at the Collège Stanislas, he attended the École des Hautes Études Commerciales where, in 1904, he was awarded a Doctor of Law degree.

Since 1902, he had been employed at La Samaritaine, a department store that was founded in 1869 by Ernest Cognacq [fr] and his wife Marie-Louise Jaÿ; Gabriel's great-uncle and aunt.

While he was gone, in 1916, Ernest and Marie-Louise created the Fondation Cognacq-Jay [fr], a charitable organization that supports retirement homes, hospitals and schools.

In 1939, after the French declaration of war on Germany, he made the delivery vans at La Samaritaine available to the Louvre, to transport their collection to the relative safety of the Château de Chambord.