Born in 1530 in Nîmes in the South of France, he undertook his education in Toulouse. He served as Ambassador for France in Lisbon, Portugal, over a period of 27 years and on behalf of three kings of France: King Henry II, King Francis II and King Charles IX.
Jean Nicot de Villemain is known for having had to negotiate the wedding of the six-year-old Margaret of Valois and the five-year-old King Sebastian of Portugal. That marriage never happened.
In 1492, on his first voyage to what would come to be known as the West Indies, Christopher Columbus brought back leaves and seeds of the tobacco plant with him. A crew member, Rodrigo de Jerez, started smoking the leaves and found it impressive. The plant had found its way from Spain to Portugal.
After his 27 years in Portugal, Jean Nicot returned to France with a tobacco plant, which he introduced to the French Royal Court as a present. More specifically, he introduced the plant to Catherine de Medici with the instruction to use it as snuff. She found it relieved the King of his headaches.
In 1560, the French started cultivating tobacco in France. The plant was named Nicotiana tabacum in honour of Jean Nicot. The plant’s name was further shortened to give us Nicotine.