From José Eisenberg to EISENBERG

José Eisenberg comes from a long line of textile industrialists and is the only son of Sally and Marcel Eisenberg. Born in Bucharest, he spent his childhood in post-war communist Romania, where the family’s assets were confiscated due to the policies of the time. His parents taught him strong traditional values, as well as the love of excellence and an unconditional respect for France. His father, who had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, also shared his love for the French way of life. He was also very much influenced by the bravery of his uncle Aurel Eisenberg, a French citizen and part of the resistance movement during World War II, who was gunned down by the Occupation forces on the same day Paris was liberated. This story left an indelible mark on his personality.

José Eisenberg is a self-educated man. At the age of 13 he left school and cumulated several jobs, from newspaper boy to bill poster to handyman in Art workshops that used the techniques practiced during the Renaissance. He later sat the baccalauréat as an independent candidate. 

At 21, consumed by his desire to create, José Eisenberg took control of his destiny and travelled to Florence, Italy, to pursue what had always been his passion: beauty.

He created his own design studio and a fashion factory. He invented his own collections, made clothing for the biggest brands and imposed his choices and style. He is one of the pioneers of the democratisation of fashion in Europe. Italy granted him honorary citizenship in 1972 for his commitment to the labour market and huge role in creating jobs.

Before his thirtieth birthday, in parallel and without abandoning the world of fashion, José Eisenberg, a hard worker, passionate about creation, set off for the United States to pursue his second passion: technology. A visionary, he threw himself into research focusing on artificial intelligence, founding JE Contrex in Boston, 25 years before anyone else even thought about working on the concept. He recruited scientists who had graduated from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), giving them the financial means necessary to develop the project. Unfortunately, the technological gap was too big and José Eisenberg was too much ahead of his time. The insufficient IT resources made him abandon his research in the field of artificial intelligence. But he did not stop there. He created a second company, E.D.S. (Eisenberg Data Systems), which designed and marketed PCs, followed by the first PC with a detachable keyboard, using his own software.