Marie-Louise Meilland

During her long career, Louisette Meilland bred over 120 rose varieties, and received multiple awards for her work.

Her father, Francesco Giacomo Paolino, was the son of immigrants, who moved to Antibes from Calabria.

Louisette worked as her father's nursery assistant, and bred her first rose cultivar at the age of fifteen.

Pyle's company introduced Meilland's first commercially successful rose variety, 'Golden State', in the U.S. in 1938.

The new rose was later introduced in Pasadena, California, on April 29, 1945, the day that Berlin surrendered to Allied forces.

[8] Louisette was primarily interested in developing new Hybrid tea, Floribunda and Climbing rose cultivars.

Her funeral service was held at the Saint Benoît Catholic church in Antibes, where Louisette was also baptized and married.