Talk:Jean Nicot

Untitled
Jean Nicot: At the time Jean Nicot (pronounced niko) was born in France, about 1530, there was nothing to suggest that his name would be remembered. He was not from a family of consequence in the grand city of Paris. His father was just a humble notary in the old southern town of Nimes.

Jean Nicot managed to gain employment in the service of the Keeper of the Great Seal of France. In that capacity he attracted the attention of the King, who made him his private secretary. He was then appointed ambassador to Portugal.

Among Nicot's friends in Lisbon was the scholar and botanist Damião de Goes. Once when Damião de Goes had Nicot over for dinner, he showed him a tobacco plant growing in his garden and told him of its marvelous healing properties. The application of the tobacco plant to a cancerous tumor allegedly worked wonders. Nicot tried treating an acquaintance's face wound for 10 days with the plant with excellent results. Nicot became convinced of the healing powers of tobacco from Damião de Goes, Nicot obtained cuttings which he planted in the garden of the French Embassy. In 1560 Nicot wrote of tobacco's medicinal properties. He described tobacco as a panacea and sent tobacco plants to the French court.

Nicot sent snuff to Catherine de Medici, the Queen of France, in 1560 to treat her migraine headaches. Nicot had applied it to his nose and forehead and found it relieved his headaches. Catherine de Medici followed suite and was so favorably impressed. She decreed that tobacco was henceforth to be called Herba Regina, the "queen's herb."

Jean Nicot died in Paris in the year 1600. He was an obscure diplomat in 16th-century Europe. Of Nicot, the standard reference book Le Petit Larousse says merely:

"NICOT (Jean), born Nimes circa 1530 - died Paris 1600. French diplomat. Ambassador to Lisbon, he introduced tobacco into France."

Nicot is, in fact, remembered today only because of his connection to tobacco. His name was given to the tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum) and to a stimulating (and addicting) substance now known as nicotine.

Death date discrepancy
Spanish, Greek Italian and Russian Wikipediae all agree with 4 May 1600. But I'm a little concerned that French WP says Nicot did not die till 10 May 1604. Can anyone comment on this? --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  02:15, 5 August 2015 (UTC)


 * "for he died in Paris, May 10th, 1600, and was buried in the Eglise de St. Paul, where his epitaph is yet to be seen.". Ref: "Early Names and History of Tobacco" - Stephen J. W. Tabor, M.D. (1844) https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM184408070310102
 * Not making it any more clear.
 * Henk Poley (talk) 15:29, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Another date in a citation in a book from 1829: https://books.google.nl/books?hl=nl&lr=&id=ojxbAAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=%22jean+nicot%22+(1600+OR+1605)&ots=pJ7OhHTzXU&sig=u-JokE4RMNYLMBbM_lBSCXQkQPQ#v=onepage&q=jean%20nicot&f=false
 * Winstanley's Historical Rarities, 8vo. 1668.
 * French: "Jean Nicot, maîtredes requêtes, ambassadeur de France en Portugal; d'ou il apporta le premier à la reine Catharine de Medicis, la fameuse plante de TABAC; laquelle fut nommé d'abord Nicotinae, de son nom; ensuite, herbe à la reine, à cause que Catharine de Medicis la mit en réputation dans le royaume, &c. Il est mort vers l'annnée 1559." descrip. de la Ville de Paris, par Germaine Brice. Sept. edit. Amst. 1718. tom. 2. p. 120"
 * English: "Jean Nicot, Minister of Public Works, French Ambassador to Portugal; from there he brought the first to Queen Catharine de Medicis, the famous TOBACCO plant; which was first named Nicotinae, after his name; then, the herb [was brought] to the Queen, since then Catharine de Medicis made it famous in the kingdom, &c. He died around 1559," written in the Ville de Paris, by Germaine Brice. Sept. edit. Amst. 1718. tom. 2. p. 120"
 * Henk Poley (talk) 16:18, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Note that the French Wikipedia now notes both 1604 and 1605.
 * Henk Poley (talk) 16:53, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Note that the French Wikipedia now notes both 1604 and 1605.
 * Henk Poley (talk) 16:53, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

A nice old reference
"Early Names and History of Tobacco" - Stephen J. W. Tabor, M.D. (1844) : https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM184408070310102

"Jean Nicot, lord of Villemain [..] of France, was ambassador from that monarch at the court of Lisbon. From a Dutch trader just returned from the "long voyage," who was introduced to him by the keeper of the monuments at Lisbon, he received some seeds of the precious plant. A part of these he presented to Catherine de Medicis, and a part to a grand prior of the house of Lorrain. Catherine used the pulverized seeds as a medicine, and the French called the plant by several names, as herbe à la reine, herbe à l'ambassadeur, herbe au grand prieur, &c. This was its first recorded use among that people, so famous for their politeness and—snuff-taking! To this fact Nicot probably owes the celebrity his name has acquired [..] but Linnaeus has done so by bestowing the title of Nicotiana upon the genus to which tobacco belongs." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Henk Poley (talk • contribs) 15:26, 15 December 2018 (UTC)