Johann Maria Farina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johann Maria Farina (1685 - 1766) - also known as Giovanni Maria Farina - was the Cologne perfume maker primarily responsible for establishing Eau-de-Cologne as a brand.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Johann Maria Farina, the Italian perfume maker, created a new fragrance which he named Eau de Cologne. This fragrance was something very new in contrast to the sultry, sweet fragrances in use at the time. With his Eau de Cologne, Johann Maria Farina made Cologne world-famous as a city of perfume in the 18th and 19th century.
Johann Maria Farina died in 1766 and is interred in the Melaten in Cologne. There is also a gravestone for him in the Melaten-Friedhof cemetery, in Cologne, Germany.)
He is honoured by a statue on the Town Hall, Cologne. The Farina family still produces Eau de Cologne to the original recipe: an individual in each subsequent generation has been called Johann Maria Farina.
Many famous people were his customers, Charles VI of Austria, Maria Theresia, Clemens August I of Bavaria, Frederick William I of Prussia, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Mark Twain and Romy Schneider.
Today Eau de Cologne is known world-wide as a synonym for a light fragrance.
[edit] External links
- Eau de Cologne (in German)
