Villiger was founded in Switzerland from a couple, Jean
and Louise Villiger. When her husband died, Louise continued managing the
company alone for 16 years, something unusual for a woman of the times. In 1918
Villiger Brothers, Max and Hans took over the company and made it into one of
the biggest in Europe. In 1951 Heinrich Villiger took over and bought Cuban
tobacco trying to make the company the biggest private distributor of Cuban
tobacco in Europe, something he achieved.