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The growing of tobacco began in America over 3,000 years ago. Indians began to roll tobacco leaves until they obtained a type of large cigar which they called “tabaco”.
Before the discovery of America, tobacco was above all a sacred plant used for healing by priests and medicine-men. It was used to communicate with the spirits and appease pain.
In 1492,
Christopher COLUMBUS discovered tobacco in Cuba and imported it to Europe
for the first time.
In the
Spanish and Portuguese court, tobacco was used for a long time simply
as an ornamental plant. It was only in the mid 16th Century that the
personal doctor of Philippe II began to popularize tobacco as a “universal
medicine”.
In 1556,
André THEVET, monk from the Angoulême region brought back
tobacco seeds to France for the first time.
In 1560,
tobacco established itself in France thanks to Jean NICOT who, convinced
of the plant's healing properties, sent some in powder form to Queen
Catherine of Medici in order to treat the painful migraines of her son
François II. The treatment was successful and tobacco became
the “Queen's herb” whose sale in powder form was restricted
to apothecaries. In homage to Jean NICOT, tobacco was henceforth called
“Nicotiana Tabacum”.
During
the reign of Louis XIII, tobacco was consumed as a medicine in powder
form but was increasingly smoked in a pipe out of pleasure.
In 1629,
the Cardinal of RICHELIEU instigated a customs' excise on the importation
of tobacco which, at the time, still came from the New World. This decision
resulted 7 years later in the first plantations in France in Clairac
(Lot-et-Garonne).
In the
mid 17th Century, there were already a large number of plantations,
particularly in the valleys of the Lot-et-Garonne, in Lorraine and Normandy.
In 1674,
during the reign of Louis XIV, COLBERT decreed the “Privilege for
producing and selling” which was first granted to private individuals,
then exclusively to the Compagnie des Indes. Tobacco growing became
a monopoly.
In 1719,
growing tobacco was prohibited throughout France and punishment could
even be capital. The only exceptions were Franche-Comté, Flanders
and Alsace.
In 1791,
the National Assembly proclaimed the right to grow, produce and retail
tobacco.
In 1810,
Napoleon I re-established the State monopoly.
From 1816,
authorization to grow tobacco was gradually given to a few departments.
In 1950,
55 departments grew tobacco with 105,000 producers covering a surface
area of 70,000 acres.
On the
21st April 1970, the European Community regulation on the setting
up of a common organization of markets in the raw tobacco sector came
into force, bringing with it the abolition of monopolies. Growers immediately
sought how to structure themselves from an economic point of view, since
they were now in charge of production.
On the
21st January 1971, the first tobacco cooperative
was created in Alsace. For the next 10 years, other cooperatives were
set up in all regions.
In 1979,
UCAPT (The Agricultural Union for Tobacco Growers) was founded (in 2009
it was renamed "France Tabac
U.S.C.A.").
In 1985,
France Tabac started up the
processing plant for
light-air & flue-cured varieties in Sarlat, Dordogne. |
