The name Côte d'Azur was coined by Stéphen Liégeard. He was born in Dijon in 1830 into a very wealthy family. After a career in law he became a sous-préfet and while working in Carpentras began writing poetry. In 1867 he was elected député de la Moselle but after the fall of the Second Empire, in September 1870, he ended his career in politics and took to writing instead.

Now with time to spare he divided his time between his apartment in Paris, his hotel in Dijon and his home in Brochon. But, when his wife inherited a family home in Cannes, Villa des Violettes, in 1873, they take to spending their winters there.  

From this base along the shores of the Mediterranean, Liégeard begins to scour the Var coastline and the (then) brand new Alpes-Maritimes department both on foot and horse-drawn carriage. He was accompanied in these journies by his good friend and well known writer Alphonse Daudet, who was equally passionate for lands of sunshine. Together they discover a magnificent region, pristine and remote, and known and appreciated by only a small number of privileged Parisians and foreigners. Captivated, Liégeard wrote about his findings in a book entitled "La Côte d'Azur" which was published in 1887 and was basically semi-autobiographical and semi- touristic for which he was awarded a literary prize by the Académie Française.

He dedicated his work to the poet Xavier Marmier, inviting him to “accompany me to the land of light, warm breezes, mysterious fragrant forests... between Hyères and Genoa. The journey is short but the road is delightful along the strip of coastline with its shimmering fringe... Let us drift along this 'Côte d'Azur'.”

Reprinted in 1894, Liégeard wrote in its preface "the dictionary has increased by one word."

He died at his home in Cannes on the 29th December 1925. As a byline, the original manuscript was bought by the Town of Nice on the 4th December 1987 for the sum of 16,000 French francs.