Louise Sarazin

Louise Sarazin (also known as Louise Sarazin-Levassor), (November 6, 1847, Foix, † 16 October 1916, Paris), played a significant role in early automotive history having been party to its beginnings in France and Germany. She was the wife of Edouard Sarazin, an entrepreneurial Belgian industrialist and patents lawyer who was in a number of automotive partnerships and agencies with Émile Levassor, René Panhard, John Cockerill, Deutz AG, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. In 1884 Sarazin acquired the licence to build Deutz engines in France, which he duly contracted to Perin, Panhard & Cie in Paris. Around 1886 he similarly acquired licences to build Daimler engines in France and started to commission Panhard & Levassor in Paris. After his death in 1887 his widow Louise developed the business relationships and negotiated the partnerships with Daimler and 'Panhard et Levassor'. In 1890 she married Emile Levassor.

Early life Louise Cayrol was born in 1847 in Foix, in the département of Ariège in southern France. Her parents were Antoine Cayrol and Jeanne Cayrol (nee Bonnafous), and her sister was named Anne.