| 1792 |
 Dr.
Pierre Ordinaire writes a recipe for absinthe, and becomes
one of the first to
promote the virtues of the wormwood
drink.
Absinthe was allegedly invented
by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire in 1792, as an all-purpose remedy.
Used as a cure-all, it was nicknamed "La Fée Verte" or
"The Green Fairy"; a nickname that has stuck.
Artemisia Absinthium was used " in medicine and magic.
. .to rouse a languid appetite and stimulate digestion."
Ironically, Absinthe originally treated drunkenness though
it was often added to wine "to make it more intoxicating".
The name "La Fée Verte" is associated with magic, mythology
and provocatively intoxicating female figures.
This long history of magical associations with wormwood
and its powers worked to popularize Dr. Ordinaire's
concoction, and to heighten Absinthe's popularity and
mystical appeal.
The plant has been recognized for centuries (the
Egyptians called it Saam) but Dr. Ordinaire probably used a
recipe from the sisters Henriod at the beginning of the 19th
century. By 1805, the Pernod-Fils absinthe company was set
up in Pontarlier, France, by Henri-Louis Pernod. |
| 1797 |
Henri-Louis
Pernod opens his first absinthe distillery in Switzerland.
Henri-Louis
Pernod opens larger distillery in Pontarlier, France |
 Paul
Marie Verlaine is born. Henri-Louis
Pernod dies. Baudelaire
meets Manet. Manet
paints The Absinthe Drinker. Arthur
Rimbaud arrives in Paris. Verlaine
and Rimbaud
form relationship. Become inseperable for many years.
Verlaine
shoots Rimbaud
in the wrist. Degas
paints L'Absinthe. Rimbaud
dies in France. Alfred
Jarry arrives in Paris. Picasso
paints The Absinthe Drinker, oil on canvas, and Woman
Drinking Absinthe, oil on canvas. Pernod
plant in Pontarlier catches fire when struck by lightning.
The fire burns for four days. |
| 1905 |
Jean
Lanfray murders his wife while supposedly drunk on many
liquors, including and especially absinthe. |
| 1906 |
Jean
Lanfray trial commences. He is convicted of murder. Vaud
legislature in Switzerland votes to ban absinthe |
| 1907 |
Grand
Conseil of Switzerland votes to ban the retail sale of
absinthe and its imitations |
 |
| 1908 |
Article
32 added to Switzerland's federal Constitution, officially
banning absinthe in Switzerland. |
| 1911 |
Picasso
paints Glass of Absinthe, an "analytic
cubist" oil on canvas. |
 |
| 1912 |
Picasso
paints Bottle of Pernod and Glass, a
"synthetic cubist" oil on canvas. |
| 1913 |
Charles
Foley's one-act play Absinthe performed for the
first time at the Grand Guignol in Paris. |
| 1914 |
Picasso
creates Glass of Absinthe, a painted bronze
sculpture. |
| 1915 |
Chamber
of Deputies in France votes to ban absinthe. Absinthe
officially banned in France. |
