In September 2016, in our Absinthe Prohibition Post we told you about a farmer, who supposedly killed his family under the influence of Absinthe. Absinthe, however, was not the reason for his actions, since two ounces of Absinthe are not nearly as influential as excessive amounts of hard liquor and wine. However, Absinthe was banned shortly after this incident. Therefore, we want to tell you more about the story of that farmer: Jean Lanfray.
The Life of Jean Lanfray: Prelude
Before we familiarize you with Jean Lanfray there is one tiny detail we want to tell you upfront. Even though most of you probably will know this already, some of you won’t. In the early days, before the ban of Absinthe, there has been the perception of the Green Fairy haunting the human race. This belief is most likely the reason for the ending of Jean Lanfrays story.
The Life of Jean Lanfray: Absinthe got banned
Jean Lanfray (ca. 1873 – 1906) was a hardworking laborer. As his name proposes, he was French, but he decided to live in Switzerland. He had a wife and two children, named Rose (four-years-old) and Blanche (two-years-old).
It was one day in August of 1905 when he drank a lot of alcohol. To be exact it was 7 glasses of wine, 6 glasses of Cognac, 2 coffee with Brandy, 2 crème de menthes, and 2 ounces of Absinthe, it is told. As previously said: one would not imagine that the glasses of Absinthe were supposed to be the influencing factor.
However, he shot his wife, as well as his two children and then himself. He did recover in hospital, though, which was when he found himself in trial. Professionals, with the knowledge of that time, found the Absinthe to be the reason for Lanfrays doing. They called it a classic case of Absinthe madness. That is why he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, where he hung himself after 3 days. And you know what happened after that. Absinthe got stigmatized and ultimately was banned. More than 100 years had to pass, until Absinthe got legal once again…
We do hope that you “enjoyed” this article, as much as one can. Next weeks’ article will be more joyful.
We do want to end this blog post by saying: We appreciate you! Thank you for supporting and spreading the word of the Green Fairy!
Much Love.
Nico from the ALANDIA Team