Simon Ganneau (born circa 1805 in

Lormes Lormes () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. The mystic Simon Ganneau (1805–1851) was born in Lormes, as was the writer Henri Bachelin (1879–1941), winner of the 1918 Prix Femina for ''Le Serviteur''. Demographics ...

, died 14 March 1851 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 ...

) was a French socialist, feminist, sculptor, and mystic.Julian Strube, ''Sozialismus, Katholizismus und Okkultismus im Frankreich des 9. Jahrhunderts: Die Genealogie der Schriften von Eliphas Lévi'' (2016), page 256Naomi Judith Andrews, ''Socialism's Muse: Gender in the Intellectual Landscape of French Romantic Socialism'' (2006), pages 40-41, 95, 102Charles Nauroy (ed.), ''Le Curieux'' (1888), volume 2, page 239 Like several other socialists of his time, Ganneau treated Christianity as a call for social reform.Susan Grogan, ''Flora Tristan: Life Stories'' (2002), pages 193-194 He was influenced by

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 Saint-Simonian philosophy, particularly in viewing God as an androgynous or

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. Ganneau's writings treat androgyny not only as a move towards religious salvation, the final stage of humanity, but also as embodying the socialist concept on unity and balance in the world. Adopting the title of the Mapah, a combination of '' mater'' and '' pater'' or '' maman'' and ''

papa Papa is a word used in many languages as an affectionate term for father. Papa or PAPA may refer to: Geography and geology * Papa, Samoa, a village on the island of Savai'i * Papa, Scotland, various islands * Pápa, a town in Hungary *Papa rock ...

'' ("mother" and "father"), Ganneau presented himself as an

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often r ...

prophet (with a beard and a woman's cloak)Gary Lachman, ''Revolutionaries of the Soul' (2014)
page 43
/ref> of a new religion called "Evadaism" () based on his ideas for "a redefined humanity, Evadam" (from '' Eve-Adam'') and for a new era of female emancipation,

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

.Francis Bertin, ''Esotérisme et socialisme'' (1995), page 53 According to

Éliphas Lévi Éliphas Lévi Zahed, born Alphonse Louis Constant (8 February 1810 – 31 May 1875), was a French esotericist, poet, and writer. Initially pursuing an ecclesiastical career in the Catholic Church, he abandoned the priesthood in his mid-twenti ...

, Ganneau also claimed to be the reincarnation of

Louis XVII Louis XVII (born Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy; 27 March 1785 – 8 June 1795) was the younger son of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. His older brother, Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, died in June 1789, a little over ...

, and his wife claimed to be the reincarnation of

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

. As a sculptor and a former phrenologist, he spread his ideas via pamphlets and plaster figurines, "of strange appearance, without doubt symbolically bisexual", both called "plasters". His garret studio apartment on the

Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...

in Paris functioned in the late 1830s as a salon for discussing his ideas, and he influenced many of the socialists and feminists of his time, including

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

Alphonse Esquiros Alphonse may refer to: * Alphonse (given name) * Alphonse (surname) * Alphonse Atoll, one of two atolls in the Seychelles' Alphonse Group *Alphonso (mango), a mango-cultivar from India See also *Alphons *Alfonso (disambiguation) Alfonso (and vari ...

Flora Tristan Flore Célestine Thérèse Henriette Tristán y Moscoso (7 April 1803 – 14 November 1844), better known as Flora Tristan, was a French-Peruvian writer and socialist activist. She made important contributions to early feminist theory, and argue ...

and

(Abbé Constant). Ganneau contributed to Tristan's 1844 collection ''The Worker's Union'', as well as to an 1848 paper titled ''La Montagne de la Fraternité''. Ganneau had a wife and child, who was five when Ganneau died in 1851, whom

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

took under his wing: the Orientalist and archaeologist

Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (19 February 1846 – 15 February 1923) was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist. Biography Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, the son of Simon Ganneau, a sculptor and mystic who died in 1851 when Clerm ...

Gustave Vapereau Louis Gustave Vapereau (4 April 1819 – 18 April 1906) was a French writer and lexicographer famous primarily for his dictionaries, the ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'' and the ''Dictionnaire universel des littérateurs''. Biography ...

, ''Dictionnaire universel des contemporains'', 5th edition (Paris, Hachette, 1880), p. 444

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganneau, Simon 1805 births 1851 deaths French feminists French socialists French sculptors Phrenologists Founders of new religious movements 19th-century mystics

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