Michel de Nostradamus was born in 1503 in southern France. He studied to become a doctor but was expelled from university for working as an apothecary. After his first wife and children died of plague, he remarried and started to focus on writing prophecies. He published annual almanacs containing predictions and a book of over 1,000 cryptic quatrains. Some saw him as a prophet while others thought he was fake. He gained fame and supporters including Catherine de Medicis before his death in 1566.