The Man Who Gave Us Nicotine

The name Jean Nicot may not ring a bell nowadays but he was a celebrity in the 15th century for introducing tobacco to France. Born in Nimes located at the south of France in 1530, Nicot didn’t come from a wealthy or influential family. His father was just a humble notary in the place where Levi Strauss would later discover the tough blue cloth called De Nimes that would become the popular denim work pants for California gold miners. When Nicot worked with the Keeper of the Great Seal of France, he became the king’s private secretary and was later appointed ambassador to Portugal. He served as the French ambassador in Lisbon from 1559 to 1561. The French scholar was 29 years old when he left France to arrange the marriage of six-year-old Princess Marguerite de Valois to five-year-old King Sebastian of Portugal. While doing so, Nicot met the Portuguese scholar and botanist Damiao de Goes. Over dinner, the latter showed Nicot a tobacco plant growing in his garden which he said had great healing properties. The plant supposedly cured a cancerous tumor and Nicot himself was amazed when the plant treated a friend’s face wound after 10 days. Armed with this knowledge, Nicot returned to France with the plant and started growing tobacco in the garden of the French Embassy. In 1560, he wrote about tobacco's medicinal properties and hailed the plant as a cure-all. Later, Nicot introduced snuff or smokeless tobacco to the French court. This is made from ground or pulverized tobacco leaves. As its name implies, it is inhaled or "snuffed" through the nose using the fingers or specially made snuffing devices. When Nicot learned that the Queen of France Catherine de' Medici was suffering from migraine headaches, he treated her with snuff. Earlier, he found that snuff made his headaches disappear when applied to the nose and forehead. The queen was so impressed and declared that tobacco should henceforth be called the “queen’s herb.” As the number of tobacco users in Paris grew and it became fashionable to use the plant, Nicot suddenly found himself in the limelight. This was the time when the words “stop smoking”, “quit smoking fast” and “fast quit” were unheard of. In 1600, Nicot died in Paris but he has not been forgotten. The tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum was named after him. So was nicotine – tobacco’s addicting substance. Today, we know about the dangers of smoking and many want to fast stop smoking because of this.