Clotilde de Vaux, born Clotilde Marie (April 3, 1815 in Paris – April 5, 1846 in Paris), was a French

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

known to have inspired the French philosopher

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

's Religion of Humanity.

Biography

Early life and education

Charlotte Clotilde Josephine Marie was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on April 3, 1815. She was the daughter of Simon Marie (1775–1855) an infantry captain in Napoleon's Grande Armée from a modest background, and Henriette Josephine de Ficquelmont (1780–1843), member of an old but impoverished

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. The financial situation of her father, retired Captain Marie, was dire for a household with a wife and three children: Clotilde (born in 1815), Maximilian (born in 1819) and Leon (born in 1820) therefore, her father was given the office of tax collector in Méru near Paris to help him.Charles de Rouvre, ''L'amoureuse histoire d'Auguste comte et de Clotilde de Vaux'', Calmann-Lévy, 1920.
/ref> Clotilde spent her childhood in Méru with her two younger brothers Maximilien and Leon. Clotilde de Vaux was educated at the ''

Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur The maisons d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur () are the French secondary schools set up by Napoleon and originally meant for the education of girls whose father, grandfather or great-grandfather had been awarded the Légion d'honneur. Access i ...

''.

Marriage and later life

In 1835 she had a marriage of convenience with an Amédée de Vaux, who helped her father at his tax collection office in Méru. After incurring enormous gambling debts, he eventually left his wife and fled to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. According to the Code Civil of the time, women were unable to remarry without previously being divorced and, since no divorce had been issued, de Vaux was forbidden to remarry. Consequently, she returned to Paris, first living with her parents before moving to her own place in Marais' rue Payenne. One of her uncles Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont, Minister-president of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, granted her a housing allowance. Clotilde decided to begin a career as a writer and wrote

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

for literary magazines. In October 1844, when visiting her brother, de Vaux met one of his Polytechnique's Professors, philosopher

. The first known letter from Comte to de Vaux is dated April 30, 1845 and from that day on it was clear that he was in love with her, a love which Clotilde, a devout Catholic, firmly rejected. Nonetheless she continued their correspondence until her sudden death of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

a year later. Comte, recognizing de Vaux as his

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, was impressed by her morality, which helped him to understand the religious dimension of the human condition. Though de Vaux was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Comte only considered Catholicism to be a stepHe considered Catholicism to be his second stage: the ''

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

stage'' towards the ''positive stage''. Nonetheless, de Vaux's faith persuaded him to create a religion for positivist societies in order to fulfill the cohesive function once held by traditional worship.

Birth of the Religion of Humanity

mourning Mourning is the emotional expression in response to a major life event causing grief, especially loss. It typically occurs as a result of someone's death, especially a loved one. The word is used to describe a complex of behaviors in which t ...

after Clotilde's death, Comte dedicated himself to reorganise his previous philosophical system into a new positivist secular religion: the ''Positivist Church'' or '' Religion of Humanity''. Comte's secular religion is no vague effusion of humanistic piety, but a complete system of belief and ritual, with a calendar reform called the ' positivist calendar' (with Sainte Clotilde's day each April 6 and a ''Day of Holy Women''), liturgy and sacraments, priesthood and pontiff, all organized around the public veneration of Humanity, the ''Nouveau Grand-Être Suprême'' (New Supreme Great Being) made after Clotilde de Vaux. *In ''Système de politique positive'' (1851–1854), Auguste Comte expressed his idea of a " religion of Humanity ", whose pillars are: **altruism, leading to generosity and selfless dedication to others. **order : Comte thought that after the French Revolution, society needed restoration of order. **progress : the consequences of industrial and technical breakthroughs for human societies. *In ''Catéchisme positiviste'' (1851), Comte defined the Church of Humanity's sacraments : **the Introduction (nomination and sponsoring) **the Admission (end of education) **the Destination (choice of a career) **the Marriage, **the Retirement (age 63), **the Séparation, social extreme unction, **the Incorporation, 3 years after death. Comte's " Religion of Humanity" was rather unsuccessful in France but has been very influential in Latin America, especially in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(see above) and has inspired the rise of the "

Church of Humanity Church of Humanity was a Positivism#Comte's positivism, positivist church in England influenced and inspired by Auguste Comte's Religion of Humanity in France. It also had a branch or variant in New York City, Brazil and other locations. Rich ...

" in England and its variant in New York City, both being extremely small today.

Clotilde de Vaux's writings

*''Pensées d'une fleur'', poems *''Lucie'', series of short stories published in ''Le National'' *''Willelmine'', short story *Citations : ** " ''There is no higher pleasure than the one of dedication''. » ** " ''Mankind, more than other species, needs to tie down to duties to ensure true feelings''. » ** (On Society) " ''Its institutions deserve respect as the toil of times...'' » ** " ''It's unworthy of noble hearts to spread the confusion they feel''. »

References

Bibliography

Charles de Rouvre, ''L'amoureuse histoire d'Auguste comte et de Clotilde de Vaux'', Calmann-Lévy, 1920.
* André Thérive, ''Clotilde de Vaux ou La déesse morte'', Albin Michel, 1957 * Henri Gouhier, ''La vie d'Auguste Comte'' (1931, rééd. 1997), libr. phil. Vrin, Coll. ''bibl. des textes Phil''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaux, Clotilde de 1815 births 1846 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French women writers 19th-century French writers