Johann Maria Farina - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Giovanni Maria Farina (germanized name: Johann Maria Farina, francized

Francization

Francization or Gallicization is a process of cultural assimilation that gives a French character to a word, an ethnicity or a person.-French Colonial Empire:-Francization in the World:...

: Jean Marie Farina) was an Italian perfume

Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

designer and maker, born on 8 December 1685, in the town of Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore (VB)

Santa Maria Maggiore is a comune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 130 km northeast of Turin and about 25 km north of Verbania, on the border with Switzerland...

. He died on 25 November 1766 in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Farina settled down in Cologne

Cologne

, Germany

Germany

in the year 1709 where he founded Farina gegenüber, the world’s oldest perfume factory still existing. His subtle fragrance Eau de Cologne

Eau de Cologne

Eau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...

became rapidly famous worldwide and in the 17th century this perfume was an indispensable accessory at all royal courts. In Farina’s days, the name Eau de Cologne

Eau de Cologne

would not have been mistaken for less modern fragances. The perfume maker chose to call his perfume after his new home town so as to honour it. Indeed, at the time when Farina first moved to Cologne

Cologne

, Germany

Germany

, there were very strict laws regarding foreign settlers. Farina was granted the citizenship and, in order to show off his gratitude, he named his very first creation Eau de Cologne (lit. French: "Water of Cologne"). This perfume, being a real sensation at the time, contributed to Cologne’s global fame.

Being the very first perfume of its kind on the market, the word "Cologne" quickly became a household name.

Please note that cologne refers to a perfume which is usually refreshingly light, unisex with a citrus-based head note

Note (perfumery)

Notes in perfumery are descriptors of scents that can be sensed upon the application of a perfume. Notes are separated into three classes; top/head notes, middle/heart notes, and base notes; which denote groups of smells that can be sensed with respect to the time after the application of a perfume...

. Not to be confused with the american english

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

modern definition of "cologne" which in such context refers to an aftershave

Aftershave

Aftershave describes a lotion, gel, balm, powder, or liquid used mainly by men after they have finished shaving. It may contain an antiseptic agent such as denatured alcohol or stearate citrate to prevent infection of cuts...

or strongly-perfumed lotion for men only.

The explanation as to why the perfume was given a French name is rather simple: In the 17th and 18th century, the French language was spoken in European high society and also used by tradesmen, which explains Farina's name decision. Counterfeits of the perfume only appeared at the end of the 18th century. After the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, Napoleon’s troups occupied Cologne

Cologne

for a number of years and introduced freedom of trade. Back then, registered trademarks

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

didn't existed, which explain why there were so many counterfeits.

It’s in those days that the name Farina chose to give his exclusive perfume was forever lost.

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See also

External links