Friday, December 9, 2011

Mona di Orio: 1969-2011

I can't describe the feeling I got upon hearing the perfumer Mona di Orio has just died. Totally unexpected! Her untimely passing at the young age of 42 came about during or after surgery, according to reportage.
My deepest condolences to her family and friends and deep sympathies to all perfumistadom mourning for such a young loss.
The best way she can go on living is on our skin, by wearing her perfumes; like my beloved Mona di Orio Carnation, her Nuit Noire, her Nombres d'Or Musc.



Born in 1969 in Annecy, France, of an Italian father and a Spanish mother, Mona was famously a protégée of legendary perfumer Edmond Roudnitska. She went on from there to form her own brand in 2004, Mona di Orio parfums.

The official Facebook page and her partner Jeroen Oude Sogtoen state: "Today, completely unexpected and leaving us in great sorrow, our great inspirer, friend, colleague and name giver to her great loves, her beautifull parfum creations, MONA DI ORIO has passed away.
We are shocked and deeply saddened and speechless but will still help realize her dreams.
Team Mona di Orio Parfums"

Read older interviews with Mona di Orio on Osmoz and at The Perfume Magazine.

12 comments:

  1. Eva H.13:13

    Oh my...
    RIP.

    ReplyDelete
  2. She did beautiful work, brave work, and I think she'll be remembered for that. To everyone who knew her, my condolences.

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  3. Eva,

    I know...It's utterly shocking news.

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  4. P,

    thanks for saying so honey, it's heart-warming. Indeed she did. I am going to wear her perfumes with an added level of signifance from now on.

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  5. OMG - I'm speechless......a perfumer that I always dreamed of meeting someday. Thank you for sharing the news....I will need a while to digest this - what a tragic loss.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So young , so sad.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:28

    I have a bottle of Musc and will indeed wear it from now on with another feeling. In this way she will still be with us.

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  8. M,

    in this age when people in the aficion have actually met some of those creators, this kind of news is chilling. As you say, we need time to digest this. :-(

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  9. Dear M,

    hello! How are you?

    It's terrible news indeed. Not only was she terribly young to die, she had so much desire to continue to create. Her videos show a woman who wanted to do things, that's the most tragic part of it IMO.

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  10. Anon,

    please do! Much in the manner of my classical education, I like to think that people go on living as long as we remember them.

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  11. I just wanted to leave a brief note to sympathize with you here, Elena. I've been so sad since hearing the news on Friday. Mona was truly one of my very favorite perfumers and I feel blessed to know and love several of her creations -- I still have wonders left to discover in her oeuvre.

    All we can do is appreciate how precious and fragile life is. Peace to you, and everyone else who's in mourning (especially, of course, her family and close loved ones).

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  12. Joe,

    thanks for commenting, it means a lot to me to have people actually paying tribute to this perfumer.
    One can be a harsh judge and then one can live to regret it, I guess. I hope that the people who loved her perfumes continue to appreciate her creations and continue to support the line.

    ReplyDelete

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