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Jean Nicot

French diplomat and scholar (1530–1604)

Field	Value
name	Jean Villemain
image	Jean Nicot.jpg
caption	19th-century engraving of Jean Nicot (1530-1600)
birth_place	Nîmes, Languedoc, France
office	France Ambassador to Portugal
death_place	Paris, France
death_date
birth_date	1530
monarch	{{plainlist
term_start	1559
term_end	1571

Henry II
Francis II
Charles IX Jean Nicot de Villemain (; 1530 – 4 May 1604) was a French diplomat and scholar. He is famous for being the first to bring tobacco to France, including snuff tobacco. Nicotine is named after the tobacco plant Nicotiana tabacum, which in turn is named after Jean Nicot de Villemain, who sent tobacco and seeds to Paris in 1560, presented it to the King Francis II, and who promoted their medicinal use. Smoking was believed to protect against illness, particularly the plague.

Early life

Jean Nicot was born in 1530 in Nîmes, in the south of France. His father was a notary. He was educated in Toulouse and Paris.

Career

At 29 years old in 1559, he was sent from France to Portugal to negotiate the marriage of six-year-old princess Margaret of Valois to five-year-old King Sebastian of Portugal. Nicot served as the French ambassador in Lisbon, Portugal from 1559 to 1561 under Henry II, under king Francis II from 1559 to 1560, and from 1560 to 1574 under Charles IX.

Introduction of tobacco

When Nicot returned, he brought tobacco plants. He introduced snuff tobacco to the French royal court.

Although André Thevet argued that he had introduced tobacco to France,{{Cite magazine

French dictionary

For his service to the French royal court, Nicot was given the name 'de Villemain' and land near Brie-Comte-Robert. There, he compiled one of the first French dictionaries, Thresor de la langue françoyse tant ancienne que moderne (published in 1606). His dictionary, according to Ibram X. Kendi, was the first that included an entry for the concept of race. The IETF language tags have registered for "16th century French as in Jean Nicot, 'Thresor de la langue francoyse', 1606, but also including some French similar to that of Rabelais".

Death

He died on May 4, 1604, in Paris, France.

References

"Célébrations nationales 2004 - Jean Nicot, sieur de Villemain".
"Rang & Dale's Pharmacology". Churchill Livingstone.
Kara Rogers, [http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Nicot Jean Nicot: French diplomat and scholar], [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]
Steve Luck, ''The Complete Guide to Cigars: An Illustrated Guide to the World's Finest Cigars'', Bath, UK: Parragon, p. 13
Taylor, R. B.: ''White Coat Tales – Medicine's Heroes, Heritage and Misadventures'', Springer, 2007, p. 96
[[Ibram X. Kendi]], [[Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America]], 2016, 3rd chapter{{Page needed. (June 2020)
(2021-08-06). "IETF Language Subtag Registry".

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1530-births 1604-deaths people-from-nîmes people-from-languedoc ambassadors-of-france-to-portugal 16th-century-french-diplomats french-lexicographers french-male-non-fiction-writers tobacconists

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