Renan Larue is a French writer, literary scholar and historian of

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. He is the author of several books on vegetarianism or

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

, including ''Le végétarisme et ses ennemis'' (2015), a

history of vegetarianism History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

from

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

until the modern day, and ''La pensée végane: 50 regards sur la condition animale'' (2020). In 2016 he offered the first course in vegan studies in the United States at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Early life and education

Born in the

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582."Un Breton enseigne le végétarisme en Californie"
''Ouest-France''. Larue studied French literature at the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

, graduating in 2000 with a BA. He went on to obtain three

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s: in history from the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

in Paris in 2002, in philosophy from the University of Paris I in 2003, and in classical literature from the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

in 2006. In 2007, he received an Agrégation de lettres modernes. Larue was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in French literature in 2011 by the

University of Picardy Jules Verne The University of Picardy Jules Verne (French language, French: ''Université de Picardie Jules Verne''; UPJV) is a List of universities and colleges in France, public university located in the former Picardy region of France (now part of Hauts-d ...

. His PhD dissertation focused on the history of vegetarianism in the West and formed the basis of his first book, ''Le végétarisme et ses ennemis''.

Career

Larue is an assistant professor of French literature at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. In 2016 he offered a course in vegan studies, the first course of its kind in the United States. As of 2021 he ran the Vegan Studies program at the

Writing

In ''Le végétarisme et ses ennemis'' (2015), Larue reviews the history of vegetarianism in the West, focusing on the historical figures who defended it, including

, Porphyry and

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

. He describes the attitudes of the major monotheistic religions towards the ideas conveyed by vegetarians, with particular emphasis on the hostility of the Catholic Church. He then turns to the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

, where

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

played a leading role in the defense of vegetarianism, alongside

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

Nicolas de Condorcet Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

, Maupertuis, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and Morelly. The book ends in the 20th century, with the story of the birth of

through the Vegan Society co-founded by

Donald Watson Donald Watson (2 September 1910 – 16 November 2005) was an English animal rights and veganism advocate who co-founded The Vegan Society. Early life Watson was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, the son of a headmaster in a mining community. As a ...

, Elsie Shrigley and others. In ''Le véganisme'' (2017), co-authored with Valéry Giroux, Larue, himself vegan, defends veganism as a philosophy and way of life, understood as a social and political movement based on a commitment to, as far as practically possible, avoid the subjugation, mistreatment and killing of sentient beings. In ''Le Végétarisme des Lumières'' (2019), he examines the medical and philosophical debates around vegetarianism that took place in 18th-century France. He also authored the preface to ''La révolution antispéciste'' ("The antispeciesist revolution"), a selection of twelve texts from the journal '' Cahiers antispécistes'' ("Antispeciesist notebooks").

Awards

Larue received the Best PhD Dissertation Award from the University of Picardy Jules Verne in 2011. In 2016, the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

awarded him the Prix La Bruyère silver medal for his book ''Le végétarisme et ses ennemis''.

Selected works

* (2014). * (2015). * (2017). * (2019). * (2020). Larue, Renan. ''La pensée végane: 50 regards sur la condition animale'' 'Vegan thoughts: 50 perspectives on the condition of animals'' Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larue, Renan Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century French historians 21st-century French male writers French academics French animal rights activists French animal rights scholars French veganism activists Historians of vegetarianism People from Côtes-d'Armor School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty University of Paris alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Year of birth missing (living people) University of Picardy Jules Verne alumni