Russian? Turkish? Swiss?

Many of you are probably familiar with (and may have used) pencils of the Swiss brand Caran d’Ache. I still have mine from my last trip to Zurich.

To Russian speakers the name Caran d’Ache sounds somewhat “Russian.” This s absolutely true! And this is why.

Founded in 1915 in Geneva, the Swiss pen factory was named after Russian-French caricaturist and illustrator Emmanuel Poiré.

The grandson of a Napoleonic officer, Emmanuel Poiré was born in Moscow in 1858 At the age of 19 he emigrated to France, settled in Paris, and gained popularity in the genre of multiple panel cartoon techniques and satiric illustrations.

Emmanuel Poiré was signing his works using the pseudonym Caran d’Ache which transliterates the Russian word for pencil (карандаш).

The Russian term for “pencil ”karandash”, in turn, comes from two Turkish words “kara” and “tash” (“black stone”) referring to the origins of graphite.

The founder of the Swiss company Arnold Schweitzer was admiring works of the Russian-French caricaturist Emmanuel Poiré (Caran d’Ache) and decided to name his company after a famous artist.