Antoine Parmentier

Antoine Parmentier (1737-1813), French pharmacist and agronomist, popularizer of the potato — and lesser-known author of work on hemp.

Antoine Parmentier

Antoine Augustin Parmentier (Montdidier, 17 August 1737 — Paris, 17 December 1813) is a French pharmacist, agronomist and nutritionist. He is internationally known for having popularized the potato as food in France — but he is also the author of much less known scientific work on hemp .

Biography

Born into a modest Picardy family, Parmentier became a military apothecary. Captured during the Seven Years' War, he was imprisoned in Prussia where he discovered the potato — then despised in France, considered fit only for pigs.

After the war, he led a tireless campaign to introduce the potato into French food. Anecdote: Louis XVI grants him a parcel at Sablons, near Paris, which Parmentier has guarded by armed soldiers during the day — to make Parisians believe it contains precious crops. Each night, he discreetly removes the guards, and Parisians come to steal the famous tubers.

Scientific work

Beyond the potato, Parmentier wrote:

- Chemical examination of the potato (1773) - Treatise on chestnut bread (1780) - Bread-making art (1779) - Hemp: its culture and uses (1796)

This last treatise on hemp, less famous, is a remarkable agronomic synthesis: cultivation methods, retting, spinning, food and medicinal uses.

Legacy and recognition

Parmentier dies in 1813 covered in honors. His memory is celebrated by:

- A grand boulevard in Paris bearing his name - The Parmentier metro station in Paris - Numerous statues in cities of France - The expression 'hachis Parmentier' (cottage pie) — minced beef with mashed potatoes

The Parmentier method — patient pedagogy through example, against ignorance and prejudice — is invoked today as a model in agronomic, food and regulatory transitions.

Parmentier and contemporary hemp

The artisanal French CBD industry — confronted in 2026 with debates on edibles and synthetic cannabinoids — sometimes draws inspiration from the Parmentier method to defend the food and bien-être hemp cultivar . See the strategic note Strategy Parmentier.

The spirit is simple: patient pedagogy, scientific demonstration, regulatory cooperation, refusal of prejudice — rather than militant confrontation.