Marie Harel

French, 1761-1844

According to legend, Harel was a dairymaid and cheesemaker who invented Camembert cheese. It is said that she hid a priest who was fleeing the French Revolution, and to show his gratitude he taught her how to make Brie, the cheese of his home region. Harel took this recipe and altered it, using local Normandy milk, smaller round moulds and omitting cream altogether, producing a new cheese that she named after her village.

Harel’s grandson, Cyrille Paynel, produced Camembert on a larger scale by opening a cheese factory in Le Mesnilmauger