Jean Nicot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean Nicot
19th century engraving of Jean Nicot (1530-1600)
Born	Jean Nicot 1530 Nîmes, France
Died	May 4, 1604 Paris, France

Jean Nicot de Villemain (French: [ʒɑ̃ niko də vilmɛ̃]; 1530 – May 4, 1604) was a French diplomat and scholar. He is famous for being the first person to bring tobacco to France. This included snuff tobacco, which people sniffed.

The plant Nicotiana tabacum and the chemical nicotine are both named after him. Jean Nicot sent tobacco plants and seeds to Paris in 1560. He showed them to the French King and said they had medicinal uses. At that time, people even believed smoking could help protect against illnesses like the plague.

Early Life of Jean Nicot

Jean Nicot was born in 1530 in Nîmes, a city in the south of France. His father worked as a notary, which is a legal official. Jean Nicot went to school in Toulouse and Paris.

Jean Nicot's Career as a Diplomat

Nicot worked as the French ambassador in Lisbon, Portugal. He served under three different French kings. He was an ambassador from 1547 to 1559 under King Henry II. Then, from 1559 to 1560, he served King Francis II. Finally, he worked for King Charles IX from 1560 to 1574.

In 1559, when he was 29 years old, Nicot went to Portugal. His job was to arrange a marriage between six-year-old Princess Margaret of Valois and five-year-old King Sebastian of Portugal.

How Tobacco Came to France

When Jean Nicot came back from Portugal, he brought tobacco plants with him. He introduced snuff tobacco to the French royal family. Snuff is a type of tobacco that people sniff.

The plant quickly became popular. Even the head of a monastery in Malta shared tobacco with all his monks. Soon, many fashionable people in Paris started using the plant. This made Nicot quite famous.

Another person, André Thevet, said he had brought tobacco to France first. However, the plant was named Nicotiana after Jean Nicot. Later, the chemical nicotine found in the plant was also named after him. Nicot wrote about the plant's supposed medical benefits in 1559. He sent it to the French court as a medicine.

Jean Nicot's French Dictionary

For his hard work for the French royal family, Nicot was given the name 'de Villemain'. He also received land near Brie-Comte-Robert. While living there, he created one of the first French dictionaries. It was called Thresor de la langue françoyse tant ancienne que moderne. This dictionary was published in 1606, after his death.

According to Ibram X. Kendi, Nicot's dictionary was the first to include a definition for the idea of race.

Death

Jean Nicot died on May 4, 1604, in Paris, France.

See also

In Spanish: Jean Nicot para niños