Saint-Simonianism was a French political, religious and social movement of the first half of the 19th century, inspired by the ideas of

Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825), often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon (), was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on p ...

(1760–1825). Saint-Simon's ideas, expressed largely through a succession of journals such as ''l'Industrie'' (1816), ''La politique'' (1818) and ''L'Organisateur'' (1819–20)Hewett, 2008 focused on the perception that growth in

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...

and scientific discovery would have profound changes on society. He believed that society would restructure itself by abandoning traditional ideas of temporal and spiritual power, an evolution that would lead, inevitably, to a productive society based on and benefiting from, a " ... union of men engaged in useful work"; the basis of "true equality".

Saint-Simon's writings

Saint-Simon's earliest publications, such as his ''Introduction aux travaux scientifiques du XIXe siècle (Introduction to scientific discoveries of the 19th century)'' (1803) and his ''Mémoire sur la science de l'homme (Notes on the study of man)'' (1813), (the latter of which is a eulogy to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

), demonstrate his faith in science as a means to regenerate society. In his 1814 essay ''De la réorganisation de la société européenne (On the reorganisation of European society)'', written in collaboration with his then secretary

Augustin Thierry Augustin Thierry (or ''Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry''; 10 May 179522 May 1856) was a French historian. Although originally a follower of Henri de Saint-Simon, he later developed his own approach to history. A committed liberal, his approach ...

, Saint-Simon seems to have foreseen the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, expecting however that England would take the lead in forming a continent sharing the same laws and institutions.Goyau (1912) For his last decade Saint-Simon concentrated on themes of

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour m ...

. Together with

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense o ...

, (then only a teenager), Saint-Simon projected a society bypassing the changes of the French Revolution, in which science and industry would take the moral and temporal power of medieval

theocracy Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fr ...

. In his last work however, ''Le Nouveau Christianisme (The New Christianity)'' (1825), Saint-Simon reverted to more traditional ideas of renewing society through

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

brotherly love. He died shortly after its publication.

The arts

In his last years and in the period after his death, Saint-Simon's ideas, which gave prominence to art as a prized aspect of work, interested numerous artists and musicians, amongst them

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoveris ...

(who wrote a number of hymns for the movement) and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. For a brief period, the historian and writer Léon Halévy acted as secretary to the philosopher.

The movement after Saint-Simon's death

Following Saint-Simon's death in 1825, his followers began to differ as to how to promulgate his ideas. In 1831

Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin Barthélemy, or Barthélémy is a French name, a cognate of Bartholomew. Notable people with this name include: Given name * Barthélemy (explorer), French youth who accompanied the explorer de La Salle in 1687 * Barthélémy Bisengimana, Con ...

and

Amand Bazard Saint-Amand Bazard (18 September 179129 July 1832) was a French socialist, the founder of a secret society in France corresponding to the Carbonari of Italy. Biography He was born in Paris. He took part in the defence of Paris in 1815, and afte ...

purchased the newspaper ''

Le Globe ''Le Globe'' was a French newspaper, published in Paris by the Bureau du Globe between 1824 and 1832, and created with the goal of publishing Romantic creations. It was established by Pierre Leroux and the printer Alexandre Lachevardière. After ...

'' as the official organ for their revolutionary fraternity ''Friends of the Truth''. Initially both men were supposed to be co-leaders naming themselves ''Supreme Fathers''. However Bazard left the group as it became increasingly ritualistic and religiously minded with Enfantin founding a community at

Ménilmontant Ménilmontant () is a neighbourhood of Paris, situated in the city's 20th arrondissement. It is roughly defined as the area north of the Père Lachaise Cemetery, south of Parc de Belleville, and between ''Avenue Jean-Aicard'' on the west and ...

where he decried marriage as tyranny, promoted

free love Free love is a social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo on ...

, declared himself "chosen by God", and began predicting that a "female Messiah" would soon save humanity. In 1832 the group led by charismatic Enfantin was brought to trial by the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

on charges of public indecency specifically in regards to Enfantin's beliefs and practices associated with free love. The group was later banned by the authorities in 1832 although it had already been suffering severe internal disputes. Following this some of Enfantin's followers visited

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

and then

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medite ...

and influenced the creation of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popul ...

in search of Messianic revelations, and the formal Saint-Simonian movement expired. However, others who had been associated with the group and were not followers of Enfantin, (such as

Olinde Rodrigues Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues (6 October 1795 – 17 December 1851), more commonly known as Olinde Rodrigues, was a French banker, mathematician, and social reformer. In mathematics Rodrigues is remembered for Rodrigues' rotation formula for vectors, ...

and

Gustave d'Eichthal Gustave Séligmann d'Eichthal (3 March 1804, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle - 9 April 1886, Paris) was a French writer, publicist, and Hellenist. Life At the age of thirteen he became a convert to Roman Catholicism from Judaism, and when he left the ...

) developed Saint-Simonian notions practically and involved themselves in the development of the French economy, founding a number of leading concerns including the

Company and the bank

Crédit Mobilier The Crédit Mobilier (full name Société Générale du Crédit Mobilier, "general company for movable ollateral-backedcredit") was a French banking company created by the Pereire brothers, and one of the world’s most significant and influent ...

.Leopold, 1998 It has also been noted that Saint-Simonian ideas exerted a significant influence on new religious movements such as

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) b ...

and

Occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism ...

since the 1850s.Strube, 2016

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

considered the Saint-Simonians to be the "patriarchs of socialism."

People associated with the Saint-Simonian movement

(1791–1832), socialist * Philippe Buchez (1796–1865), historian, sociologist, and politician *

Michel Chevalier Michel Chevalier (; 13 January 1806 – 18 November 1879) was a French engineer, statesman, economist and free market liberal. Biography Born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, Chevalier studied at the ''École Polytechnique'', obtaining an engineering ...

(1806–1878), statesman, economist *

(1798–1857), first philosopher of positive science *

(1810–1876), composer * Claire Demar (1799–1833), author, feminist * Jeanne Deroin (1805-1894), author, journalist, feminist, seamstress, social reformer *

(1804–1886), writer and publicist *

(1796–1864), social reformer * Simon Ganneau (1805–1851), sculptor, socialist, feminist, mystic * Désirée Gay (1810–1891), publisher, feminist, seamstress, social reformer * Henri Germain (1824-1905), businessman and founder of

Crédit Lyonnais The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cent ...

* Floresca Guépin (1813-1889), feminist, teacher, school founder * Charles Joseph Bay, explorer and engineer * Suzanne Voilquin (1801–1876), author, editor, midwife, feminist * Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899), painter

References

Bibliography

* Butler, Eliza Marian
''The Saint-Simonian Religion in Germany; A Study of the Young German Movement''
New York: H. Fertig, 1968. * Carlisle, Robert B. ''The Proffered Crown: Saint-Simonianism and the Doctrine of Hope'', Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1987. * Durkheim, Emile.''Socialism and Saint-Simon (Le Socialisme)'', Ed. and with Intro by Alvin W. Gouldner. Charlotte Sattler (Translator). Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press, 1958. * Gerits, Anton

Amsterdam: A. Gerits, 1986. * Goyau, G. ''Saint-Simon and Saint-Simonism'' in the

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

, New York, 1912. * Hewett, Caspar
''Henri de Saint-Simon, the Great Synthesizer''
2008. * Leopold, David, ''Saint-Simon, Claude-Henri de Rouvroy'' in E. Craig (ed.). ''Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy'', London, 1998. * Osama W. Abi-Mershed. ''Apostles of Modernity: Saint-Simonians and the Civilizing Mission in Algeria.'' Palo Alto: Stanford UP, 2010. * Pankhurst, Richard K. P. ''The Saint Simonians, Mill and Carlyle: A Preface to Modern Though'', Norwood, PA: Norwood Editions, 1976. * St-Simon,

at the Marxist Internet Archive. * Shine, Hill.''Carlyle and the Saint-Simonians: The Concept of Historical Periodiciy'', New York: Octagon Books, 1971. * Strube, Julian
''Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France''
''Religion'', 2016.

External links

* * {{Socialism Eponymous political ideologies Social theories Socialism in France 19th century in France Utopian socialism