John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist, and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. In May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later become Coca-Cola, but sold his rights to the drink shortly before his death.

He suffered from a sabre wound sustained in April 1865, during the Battle of Columbus; his ensuing morphine addiction led him to experiment with various painkillers and toxins. In the end, this led to the recipe that later was adapted to make Coca-Cola.