Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin
Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin (sometimes called Père Enfantin) (born February 8, 1796 – died September 1, 1864) was a French social reformer, one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism.
Life
Barthélemy Enfantin was born in Paris, France, the son of a banker of Dauphiné. After receiving his early education at a lyceum, he was sent in 1813 to the École Polytechnique. In March 1814 he was one of the band of students who, on the heights of Montmartre and Saint-Chaumont, attempted resistance to the armies of the Sixth Coalition, which had engaged in the invasion of Paris. In consequence of this outbreak of patriotic enthusiasm, the school was soon closed by Louis XVIII of France, and the young student was compelled to seek another career.
Initially, he began working for a country wine-merchant, traveling to German Confederation, Imperial Russia, and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1821 he entered a banking-house newly established at Saint Petersburg, but returned two years later to Paris, where he was appointed cashier to the Caisse Hypothécaire. At the same time, he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
In 1825 a new turn was given to his thoughts and his life by the friendship, which he formed with Olinde Rodrigues. Rodrigues introduced him to the Comte de Saint-Simon. Enfantin quickly affiliated to Saint-Simon's version of utopian socialism, and, by 1829, he had become one of the acknowledged heads of the society.
After the July Revolution of 1830, Enfantin resigned his office of cashier, and devoted all his energy to the cause. Besides contributing to Le Globe, he made appeals to the people by systematic preaching, and organized centers of action in some of the main cities of France
The headquarters in Paris were moved from the modest rooms in the Rue Taranne to the large halls near the Boulevard des Italiens. Enfantin and Amand Bazard were proclaimed Pères Suprêmes ("Supreme Fathers") - a union which was, however, only nominal, as a divergence was already manifested. Bazard, who concentrated on organizing the group, had devoted himself to political reform, while Enfantin, who favored teaching and preaching, dedicated his time to social and moral change. The antagonism between the two was widened by Enfantin's announcement of his theory of the relation of man and woman, which would substitute a system of "free love" for the "tyranny of marriage".
Bazard and his disciples broke with Enfantin's group. The latter became sole "father", leading a chiefly religiously-oriented movement, joined by new converts (according to Enfantin's estimate, the total number of followers would have reached 40,000). He wore on his breast a badge with his title of Père, was referred to by his preachers as "the living law", declared himself to be the Messiah, and sent out emissaries in a quest of a woman predestined to be the "female Messiah," and the mother of a new Savior (the latter quest was very costly and altogether fruitless).
Meanwhile, the new religion gathered believers in all parts of Europe. His extravagances and success at length brought him to the attention of authorities, who argued that he was endangering public morality. In May 1832 the halls of the new sect were closed by the government, and the Père, with some of his followers, appeared before the tribunals. He then retired to his estate at Menilmontant, near Paris, where with forty disciples, all of them men, continued to carry out his socialist views. In August of the same year he was again arrested, and on his appearance in court he desired his defense to be undertaken by two women who were with him, alleging that the matter was of special concern to women; the request was promptly refused. The trial occupied two days and resulted in a verdict of guilty, and a sentence of imprisonment for a year with a small fine.
This prosecution discredited the new society. Enfantin was released in a few months, and then, accompanied by some of his followers, he went to Egypt. He stayed there two years, and might have entered Muhammad Ali's service if he would have professed himself, as several of his followers did, a Muslim.
On his return to France, he occupied minor offices. He became first a postmaster near Lyon, and in 1841 was appointed, through the influence of some of his friends who had risen to posts of power, member of a scientific commission on Algeria, which led him to engage in researches concerning North Africa and colonization in general.
He died on September 1, 1864.
Work
After Saint Simon died in 1825, his vision was carried by a group of his closest associates, including Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin, Olinde Rodrigues, Saint-Armand Bazard, and Pierre Leroux. Saint Simon’s advocacy for the "New Christianity" (Nouveau Christianisme) - a secular humanistic religion with goal to replace existing traditional Christianity – was resonating most in the work of Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin. Enfantin was interesting in moral and social change in the society, and invested all his energy to bring such change, starting with his followers. He organized clergy, rituals, and devotional services, and under his leadership the group grew in a manner of a typical sect. Under his guidance the Saint-Simonian school turned more toward religious and moral regeneration and less upon political reform.
The cardinal dogma of Saint-Simonians was the “principle of association,” which was similar to Fourier's “law of attraction”. The “principle of association” was a social equivalent to Newton’s law of gravitation, states that the society progresses toward unified entity – family to community, community to state, and finally from state to socialistic society. Society has been moving from isolation to union, from war to peace, from antagonism to association. The modern world would be socially organization with the scientific principles as a central ideology.
Enfantin believed that the Law of History is based on ceaseless progressive development, in harmonious existence of flesh and spirit, industry and science, east and west, woman and man. He saw women as equal to men, due to his mystical concept of an androgynous "Mother/Father" God. He thus advocated the complete emancipation of woman and her entire equality with man. He promoted several women into the highest ranks of the hierarchy in the movement.
Enfantin refused the traditional Christian form of marriage, seing it as prison for women. He proposed instead some kind of a mystical system of free love, with men and women living in a relationship that is not regulated by law. His teachings on “free love” brought him in conflict with the police, and even the most devoted of his followers had to deny his teachings.
Legacy
Enfantin was a visionary who continued teachings of Saint-Simon, enlarging them toward the spheres of religion and spirituality. Under his guidance the movement spread on different parts of Europe. He emancipated women in his movement, giving them equal role to men. He can be thus seen as one of early pioneers of feminist movement in general.
Publications
- Enfantin, Barthélemy P. 1970. Economie Politique. Franklin, Burt Co Inc. ISBN 0833710613
- Enfantin, Barthélemy P. 2001 (original work from 1905). Die Nationalökonomie des Saint-Simonismus: Mit einer Einleitung: Saint-Simon und der Saint-Simonismus von Georg Adler (1863-1908). Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0543931897
- Enfantin, Barthélemy P. 2006 (original work from 1843). Colonisation de l'Algérie. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0543885569
- Enfantin, Barthélemy P. 2006. Life Eternal: Past, Present, Future. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1425483747
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Burleigh, Michael. 2006. Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution to the Great War. HarperCollins. ISBN 0060580933
- DeGross Robert L. 1974. Barthelemy Prosper Enfantin: Prophet or parasite. Miami University.
External links
- Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin - Biography on NNDB website
- Socialism from Antiquity To Marx – History of socialism
- The Revolution of 1830 and 1848 – Short synopsis of two revolutions
- Saint-Simon and Saint-Simonism – History of Saint-Simonism
- New Christianity – Saint Simon’s work from 1825.
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