Jean-Baptiste Tavernier

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in oriental costume, 1679

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689)[1][2] was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler.[3] Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia and India between the years 1630 and 1668. In 1675, Tavernier, at the behest of his patron Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, published Les Six Voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (Six Voyages, 1676).[4][5]

Tavernier is best known for his 1666 discovery or purchase of the 116-carat Tavernier Blue diamond that he subsequently sold to Louis XIV of France in 1668 for 120,000 livres, the equivalent of 172,000 ounces of pure gold, and a letter of ennoblement.[2][6]

In 1669, Tavernier purchased for 60,000 livres the Seigneury (fief) of Aubonne, located in the Duchy of Savoy near the city of Geneva, and became Baron of Aubonne.

Tavernier's writings show that he was a keen observer, as well as a remarkable cultural anthropologist. His Six Voyages became a best seller and was translated into German, Dutch, Italian, and English during his lifetime. The work is frequently quoted by modern scholars writing about the period.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wise2010Time1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Wise2010Time3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ St. John, James Augustus (1831). "Jean-Baptiste Tavernier". The Lives of Celebrated Travellers, (Volume 1). H. Colburn and R. Bently. pp. 167–191. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  4. ^ Alam, Muzaffar; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (2007). Indo-Persian travels in the age of discoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-521-78041-4. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  5. ^ Ruben, Walter (1970). Neue Indienkunde. New indology: Festschrift Walter Ruben zum 70. Geburtstag (in German). Akademie Verlag. p. 67.
  6. ^ Buncombe, Andrew (11 February 2005). "'Cursed' Hope diamond was cut from French stone, tests show". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2015.