Johann Maria Farina
Johann Maria Farina (also known as Giovanni Maria Farina; 1 December 1682 - 25 November 1754), was an Italian Cologne perfume maker primarily responsible for establishing Eau de Cologne in Germany.
Biography
Farina was born at Santa Maria Maggiore, in what is now Piedmont, northern Italy. After moving to Cologne and working in his brother's perfume factory, in the 1700s he 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 centuries.
Johann Maria Farina died in 1766, and is interred in the Melaten-Friedhof (cemetery) in Cologne, where a cenotaph commemorates his invention.
He is honored by a statue at the Town Hall of Cologne. The Farina family still produces Eau de Cologne according to the original recipe: an individual in each subsequent generation has been called Johann Maria Farina.
His customers include Charles VI of Austria, Maria Theresa of Austria, Clemens August I of Bavaria and Frederick William I of Prussia.
Today the term eau de cologne is used worldwide to refer to a light fragrance, especially one with a low concentration of aromatic substances in solvent.