Early Life and Career
According to his personnel file seen in the episode "Conundrum", Jean-Luc Picard was born in La Barre, France, Earth on 13 July 2305 to Maurice and Yvette Gessard Picard. He grew up on his family's vineyard and constantly dreamed of leaving and joining Starfleet. He was consequently bullied as a young boy by his older brother, Robert.
As a child, he yearned for adventure and caused "quite a stir" by leaving his family's ancestral vineyard and applying to Starfleet Academy. The episode "Coming of Age" establishes that Picard failed his first entrance exam into Starfleet Academy, but was subsequently admitted. He became the first freshman to win the Academy marathon at Danula II. Picard graduated in 2327.
Shortly after his graduation, Picard briefly stayed at Starbase Earhart in 2328, waiting for his assigned ship to arrive. While there, he was stabbed in the heart by one of the three Nausicaans with whom he helped start a fight at the Bonestell Recreation Center. The damage to his heart was irreparable and required replacement with a parthenogenetic implant. This was a turning point for the young Picard, forcing him to realize that his arrogance was the main reason he was nearly killed.
Picard's prosthetic heart is later replaced twice: in 2365 because of defects in the originally installed model ("Samaritan Snare"); and in 2369 because of damage sustained when Picard is shot in the chest point-blank with a Lenarian compressed tetryon beam weapon ("Tapestry").
Picard served as first officer aboard the USS Stargazer (NCC-2893) in 2333 and became commanding officer upon the death of his captain in battle. For the next 22 years, Picard commanded the Stargazer on a mission of exploration.
During his command of the Stargazer, Captain Picard won the 2355 Battle of Maxia against a Ferengi starship. During this battle, Picard devised a new tactic that later became known as the "Picard maneuver", which resulted in the loss of the Ferengi vessel with all hands. However, the Stargazer suffered irreparable damage during the battle and had to be abandoned ("The Battle"). Per standard maritime procedure, Picard was court-martialed for the Stargazer's loss, but was exonerated ("The Measure of a Man").
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