Exhibit (21)


                     SUBSIDIARIES OF THE MEAD CORPORATION*



                                                     State of Jurisdiction
Name                                                     of Incorporation
- -------------------------                            ---------------------  
                                                    
Escanaba Paper Company                                    Michigan
Forest Kraft Company                                      Delaware
M-B Pulp Company                                          Delaware
Mead Coated Board International, Inc.                     Delaware
Mead Holdings B.V.                                        The Netherlands
Mead Holdings S.A.                                        France
Mead Packaging International, Inc.                        Ohio
                                               
                                               
- --------------                                  

*    The names of additional subsidiaries have been omitted because the unnamed
     subsidiaries, considered in the aggregate as a single subsidiary, would not
     constitute a significant subsidiary. Subsidiaries which are consolidated
     into the above-listed subsidiaries are also omitted.


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