Elsa Gasser

Elsa Felicya Gasser-Pfau (6 June 1896 – 25 August 1967) was a Polish-born Swiss economist. From the early 1930s, she became an advisor to Gottlieb Duttweiler, the founder of the Migros retail business. In 1948, she convinced him that the firm should introduce a self-service approach, paving the way for Switzerland's most successful supermarket chain. Today Gasser is considered to be responsible for the introduction of supermarkets in Switzerland.

Early life and education Born in Kraków, Poland, on 6 June 1896, Elsa Felicya Pfau was the daughter of Hersch Ber Pfau. After completing her schooling in Kraków, she moved to Zürich where, after passing the Matura examination in 1915, she studied law and economics at the University of Zurich, earning a doctorate in political science in 1920.

Personal life In 1924, Elsa Felicya Pfau married the judge Joseph Beat Gasser.

Elsa Gasser died in Zürich on 25 August 1967.