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Jean Althen

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Jean Althen
Statue of Jean Althen in Avignon
Born
Hovhannès Althounian

1709 (1709)
Died1774 (aged 64–65)
Known forDeveloping madder cultivation in France

Jean-Baptiste Joannis Althen,[1] better simply known as Jean Althen (Hovhannès Althounian; 1709–1774), was an Armenian agronomist from Safavid Iran who developed the cultivation of madder in France.[2][3][4][5]

Although the plant had been present in the region before his arrival, it was Jean-Baptiste Althen who developed its cultivation, turning it into an industry.

Biography

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Jean-Baptiste was born to a certain "Althen and Catherine Madrecha" in the Safavid Empire, in a village he called "Chaouch".[1] Jean-Baptiste grew up in a time of much turmoil, as the Safavid Empire, then ruled by King (Shah) Sultan Husayn (r.1694–1722), was in a state of heavy decline. During the Afghan invasion, Jean-Baptiste's parents were killed while he was enslaved and brought to Kayseri in the Ottoman Empire.[1] According to Sibylla Schuster-Walser / Encyclopædia Iranica, in Kayseri, "he learned cotton cultivation and dyeing".[1] In ca. 1736, Jean-Baptiste managed to escape and moved to France.[1]

In France, he received authorization by incumbent King Louis XV (r.1715–1774) "to start state-aided cotton fields".[1] When it became apparent that his efforts to grow cotton had been in vain, Jean-Baptiste started cultivating "Oriental madder" in Avignon in 1754, with great success.[1] Associated with a local landlord, Clauseau Aïné, he produced a crop of 2500 kg (5500 lbs) in 1769. Sibylla Schuster-Walser notes that madder "soon became a main crop of the region".[1] Jean-Baptiste died in poverty in 1774.[1]

In 1846, about 70 years after his death, Jean-Baptiste was honored for his efforts as the French erected a statue of him in Avignon.[1] A French commune, Althen-des-Paluds, is named after him, as well as statues and streets in several cities of the south of France. The plant genus Althenia is also named after him.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Schuster-Walser 1989, p. 912.
  2. ^ Dédéyan 2007, p. 919.
  3. ^ Henri 2000, pp. 188–195.
  4. ^ Bradshaw 1807, p. 110.
  5. ^ Secretary of Agriculture 1848, p. 192.
  6. ^ "Genus Althenia". CasaBio. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • Horan, Joseph (2015). "King Cotton on the Middle Sea: acclimatization projects and the French links to the early modern Mediterranean". French History. 29 (1): 93–108. doi:10.1093/fh/cru118.