Angelo Mariani or Ange-François Mariani (1838–1914) was a French

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

and entrepreneur from the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. He was born in Pero-Casevecchie, Haute-Corse.

Career

He is best known as the inventor of the first

coca wine Coca wine is an alcoholic beverage combining wine with cocaine. One popular brand was ''Vin Mariani'', developed in 1863 by French-Corsican chemist and entrepreneur Angelo Mariani. At the end of the 19th century, the fear of drug abuse made coc ...

Vin Mariani Vin Mariani ( French: ''Mariani wine'') was a coca wine and patent medicine created in the 1860s by Angelo Mariani, a French chemist from the island of Corsica. Mariani became intrigued with coca and its medical and economic potential after read ...

, in 1863. His contribution was to introduce the coca leaf indirectly to the general public. Mariani imported tons of coca leaves and used an extract from them in many products. It was Mariani's coca wine, though, that made him rich and famous. Mariani was also awarded with a medal of appreciation from

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. This tonic wine has been described as the ancestor of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Aymon de Lestrange ''Coca Wine: Angelo Mariani’s Miraculous Elixir and the Birth of Modern Advertising'', Park Street Press (VT), 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariani, Angelo 1838 births 1914 deaths People from Haute-Corse Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery