Besson

French and English firm of brass instrument manufacturers. It was founded in Paris (?1838) by Gustave Auguste Besson (1820-75), who in 1851 also opened a London factory. Among his improvements in brass-instrument making were the straight bore (1854), the full bore (1855) and the ‘prototype’ system of mandrels, assuring exact duplication of instruments (1856). From c 1882 the French firm continued under the name Fontaine-Besson; its important instruments include the first piccolo G trumpet (1885), a bass trumpet in C for works by Wagner, the family of cornophones (1890) and the large-bore B♭ trumpet (the first modern B♭ trumpet).

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Etymology: In central France dialects the word "besson" or "bisson" means "twin" and comes from Latin adverb "bis" (two times).

Besson may refer to:

• Besson (company), a manufacturer of brass instruments
• Besson, Allier, a commune of the Allier département in France
• Besson (aircraft), a French aircraft manufacturer of the 1920s/1930s (particularly float planes)

People with the surname Besson

• Albert Besson, French physician
• Benno Besson, Swiss actor and film director
• Colette Besson, French athlete
• Éric Besson, French minister
• Frank S. Besson, Jr., U.S. Army general
• Gustave Auguste Besson (1820-1874), brass instrument maker
• Jacques Besson (1540? - 1573), French inventor
• Louis Besson, French minister
• Luc Besson, film director
• Philippe Besson, French writer

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