Frédéric Ozanam
Encyclopedia
Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam was a French
scholar. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
. He was beatified
by Pope John Paul II
in the cathedral church Notre Dame de Paris
in 1997, hence he may be properly called Blessed
Frederick by Catholics.
for many centuries, and had reached distinction in the third generation before Frédéric through Jacques Ozanam
(1640–1717), an eminent mathematician
. Ozanam's father, Antoine, served in the armies of the Republic, but betook himself, on the advent of the Empire
, to trade, teaching, and finally medicine.
The boy was brought up in Milan
and was strongly influenced by one of his masters, the Abbé Noirot. His conservative and religious instincts showed themselves early, and he published Réflexions sur la doctrine de Saint-Simon a pamphlet against Saint-Simonianism
in 1831, which attracted the attention of the French poet and politician Alphonse de Lamartine
. In the following year Ozanam was sent to study law in Paris
, where be fell in with the Ampère family (living for a time with the mathematician André-Marie Ampère
), and through them with other leaders of the neo-Catholic movement, such as François-René de Chateaubriand
, Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
, and Charles Forbes René de Montalembert
.
Whilst still a student he took up journalism and contributed considerably to Bailly
's Tribune catholique, which became L'Univers
, a French Roman Catholic daily newspaper that took a strongly ultramontane position. Together with other young men he founded, in May 1833, the celebrated charitable Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
, which numbered before his death upwards of 2,000 members. He received the degree of doctor of law in 1836, and in 1838 that of doctor of letters with a thesis on Dante
, which served as the beginning of one of Ozanam's best-known books. A year later he was appointed to a professorship of commercial law at Lyon, and in 1840 assistant professor of foreign literature at the Sorbonne
. He married Amélie Soulacroix
in June 1841, and visited Italy
on his honeymoon.
Upon the death in 1844 of Claude Charles Fauriel
, Ozanam succeeded to the full professorship of foreign literature at the Sorbonne. The remainder of his short life was extremely busy with his professorial duties, his extensive literary activities, and the work of district-visiting as a member of the society of St Vincent de Paul.
During the French Revolution of 1848, of which he took a sanguine view, he once more turned journalist by writing, for a short time, in the Ere nouvelle and other papers. He traveled extensively, and was in England
at the time of the Exhibition of 1851. His naturally weak constitution, however, fell a prey to consumption
, which he hoped to cure by visiting Italy, but on his return to France, he died in Marseilles on September 8, 1853. He was buried in the crypt of the church of St. Joseph des Carmes at the Institut Catholique in Paris.
.
In his writings he dwelt upon important contributions of historical Christianity, and maintained especially that, in continuing the work of the Caesars
, the Catholic Church had been the most potent factor in civilizing the invading barbarians and in organizing the life of the Middle Ages
. He confessed that his object was to prove the contrary thesis to Edward Gibbon
, and, although any historian who begins with the desire to prove a thesis is quite sure to go more or less wrong, Ozanam no doubt administered a healthful antidote to the prevalent notion, particularly amongst English-speaking peoples, that the Catholic Church had done far more to enslave than to elevate the human mind. His knowledge of medieval literature
and his appreciative sympathy with medieval life admirably qualified him for his work, and his scholarly attainments are still highly esteemed.
His works were published in eleven volumes (Paris, 1862–1865). They include:
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
scholar. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The St Vincent de Paul Society is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need. Active in England & Wales since 1844, today it continues to address social and material need in all...
. He was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in the cathedral church Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
in 1997, hence he may be properly called Blessed
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
Frederick by Catholics.
Life
His family, which was of Jewish extraction, had been settled in the LyonnaisLyonnais
The Lyonnais is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.The geographical area known as the Lyonnais became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire...
for many centuries, and had reached distinction in the third generation before Frédéric through Jacques Ozanam
Jacques Ozanam
Jacques Ozanam was a French mathematician.-Biography:Jacques Ozanam was born in Sainte-Olive, Ain, France....
(1640–1717), an eminent mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. Ozanam's father, Antoine, served in the armies of the Republic, but betook himself, on the advent of the Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, to trade, teaching, and finally medicine.
The boy was brought up in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and was strongly influenced by one of his masters, the Abbé Noirot. His conservative and religious instincts showed themselves early, and he published Réflexions sur la doctrine de Saint-Simon a pamphlet against Saint-Simonianism
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon was a French early socialist theorist whose thought influenced the foundations of various 19th century philosophies; perhaps most notably Marxism, positivism and the discipline of sociology...
in 1831, which attracted the attention of the French poet and politician Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
. In the following year Ozanam was sent to study law in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where be fell in with the Ampère family (living for a time with the mathematician André-Marie Ampère
André-Marie Ampère
André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist and mathematician who is generally regarded as one of the main discoverers of electromagnetism. The SI unit of measurement of electric current, the ampere, is named after him....
), and through them with other leaders of the neo-Catholic movement, such as François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire
Jean-Baptiste Henri-Dominique Lacordaire , often styled Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, was a French ecclesiastic, preacher, journalist and political activist...
, and Charles Forbes René de Montalembert
Charles Forbes René de Montalembert
Charles Forbes René de Montalembert was a French publicist and historian.-Family history:He belonged to a family of Angoumois, which could trace its descent back to the 13th century. Charters carry the history of the house two centuries further...
.
Whilst still a student he took up journalism and contributed considerably to Bailly
Bailly
Bailly may refer to:* Jean Sylvain Bailly , French astronomer and orator, one of the leaders of the early part of the French Revolution* Joseph Bailly , French-Canadian fur trader and pioneer...
's Tribune catholique, which became L'Univers
L'Univers
L'Univers was a nineteenth-century French Roman Catholic daily newspaper that took a strongly ultramontane position. It was edited by Louis Veuillot. In 1833 it merged with La Tribune Catholique.-External links:...
, a French Roman Catholic daily newspaper that took a strongly ultramontane position. Together with other young men he founded, in May 1833, the celebrated charitable Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The St Vincent de Paul Society is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need. Active in England & Wales since 1844, today it continues to address social and material need in all...
, which numbered before his death upwards of 2,000 members. He received the degree of doctor of law in 1836, and in 1838 that of doctor of letters with a thesis on Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
, which served as the beginning of one of Ozanam's best-known books. A year later he was appointed to a professorship of commercial law at Lyon, and in 1840 assistant professor of foreign literature at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. He married Amélie Soulacroix
Amélie Soulacroix
Marie-Josephine-Amélie Soulacroix , was a French philanthropist and charity worker. Daughter of a rector of the Académie of Lyons, on June 23, 1841, she married the lawyer, littérateur and philanthropist Antoine Frédéric Ozanam in the church of Saint-Nizier in Lyons...
in June 1841, and visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on his honeymoon.
Upon the death in 1844 of Claude Charles Fauriel
Claude Charles Fauriel
Claude Charles Fauriel was a French historian, philologist and critic.-Biography:He was born at Saint-Étienne, Loire, the son of a poor joiner, but received a good education in the Oratorian colleges of Tournon and Lyon...
, Ozanam succeeded to the full professorship of foreign literature at the Sorbonne. The remainder of his short life was extremely busy with his professorial duties, his extensive literary activities, and the work of district-visiting as a member of the society of St Vincent de Paul.
During the French Revolution of 1848, of which he took a sanguine view, he once more turned journalist by writing, for a short time, in the Ere nouvelle and other papers. He traveled extensively, and was in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at the time of the Exhibition of 1851. His naturally weak constitution, however, fell a prey to consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, which he hoped to cure by visiting Italy, but on his return to France, he died in Marseilles on September 8, 1853. He was buried in the crypt of the church of St. Joseph des Carmes at the Institut Catholique in Paris.
Works
Ozanam was the leading historical and literary critic in the neo-Catholic movement in France during the first half of the 19th century. He was more learned, more sincere, and more logical than Chateaubriand; and less of a political partisan and less of a literary sentimentalist than Montalembert. In contemporary movements, he was an earnest and conscientious advocate of Catholic democracy and of the view that the Church should adapt itself to the changed political conditions consequent to the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
In his writings he dwelt upon important contributions of historical Christianity, and maintained especially that, in continuing the work of the Caesars
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
, the Catholic Church had been the most potent factor in civilizing the invading barbarians and in organizing the life of the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. He confessed that his object was to prove the contrary thesis to Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
, and, although any historian who begins with the desire to prove a thesis is quite sure to go more or less wrong, Ozanam no doubt administered a healthful antidote to the prevalent notion, particularly amongst English-speaking peoples, that the Catholic Church had done far more to enslave than to elevate the human mind. His knowledge of medieval literature
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages . The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works...
and his appreciative sympathy with medieval life admirably qualified him for his work, and his scholarly attainments are still highly esteemed.
His works were published in eleven volumes (Paris, 1862–1865). They include:
- Deux chanceliers d'Angleterre, Bacon de Verulam et Saint Thomas de Cantorbéry (Paris, 1836)
- Dante et la philosophie catholique au XIIIeme siècle (Paris, 1839; 2nd ed., enlarged 1845)
- Études germaniques (2 vols., Paris, 1847–1849), translated by A. C. Glyn as History of Civilization in the Fifth Century (London, 1868)
- Documents inédits pour servir a l'histoire de l'Italie depuis le VIIIeme siècle jusqu'au XIIeme (Paris, 1850)
- Les poètes franciscains en Italie au XIIIme sicle (Paris, 1852)
- His letters were partly translated into English by A. Coates (London, 1886).