# French Vegetarian Society

The French Vegetarian Society, also known as the Vegetarian Society of France, was a vegetarian organization, formed in 1882 by G. Goyart. The aim of the Society was to "propagate vegetarianism and assert the benefits of any order it presents."

## History

In 1880, Abel Hureau de Villeneuve founded the Sociéte Végétarienne de Paris (Vegetarian Society of Paris), in Paris. The Society had its own journal, La Reforme Alimentaire. The original Society merged into the Sociéte Végétarienne de France (Vegetarian Society of France) in 1882, which was organized by Goyart. In 1883, a criticism of the Vegetarian Society of France was that some of its medical members were omnivores, not vegetarians and were prescribing meat to their patients. The Society dissolved in 1884 and became the Société pour la Reforme Alimentaire which advocated an omnivorous diet.
In 1885, meetings in Paris were undertaken to form a new vegetarian society. Baron Emile Tanneguy de Wogan (1850–1906) was assigned presidency. Copies of his vegetarian pamphlet La Vie à Bon Marché were given to the working class. There was no further reports of the society until four years later. In 1899, president Jules Grand reconstituted the Sociéte Végétarienne de France with thirty initial members. Membership consisted of doctors, industrial workers, lawyers and soldiers. Their members were dedicated vegetarians but they also allowed associate members to join. Their officers were located at Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris.
In 1906, the Society had 800 members and collaborated with the Belgian Vegetarian Society on their journal, La Reforme Alimentaire. Ernest Nyssens, from Brussels, was editor of the journal. Historian Ulrike Thoms has noted that "its membership actively sought to influence the population through the dissemination of magazines, tracts, pamphlets, and public lectures, so the society was more publicly present than the small official membership lists suggest." Elisée Reclus' essay Le Vegetarisme (On Vegetarianism) was published in La Reforme Alimentaire, 1901.
During the early 20th century, physicians such as Fougerat de David de Lastours, Eugène Tardif, André Durville, Gaston Durville, and Albert Monteuuis were members of the Society. In 1909, the Society reported having 1,175 members. The Society published La Reforme Alimentaire every month until it ceased in 1914. The Society published the Bulletin de la Société végétarienne de France (Bulletin of the Vegetarian Society of France) from 1916 to 1920.
After the decline of the Society, new food reform groups emerged. Jacques de Marquette, a member of the Society formed his own vegetarian group in 1912 which became known as the Trait d'Union, a naturist society. The Trait d'Union gained support in the 1920s and opened the first vegetarian restaurant in Paris. Paul Carton who had been a member of the Society since 1909 formed the Société Naturiste Française (French Naturist Society) in 1921.
Hélène Sosnowska became president in 1933 following Jules Grand’s death. After her own death in 1942, the activities of the society came to an end.

## Selected publications

The Society published the following books:
* Ernest Nyssens, Du traitement alimentaire du diabete par le regime vegétarien (1900)
* Jules Grand, La Philosophie de I' alimentation (1901)
* Louis Pascault, Le Regime vegétarien consider e comme source d'energie (1902)
* Carlotto Schulz, La Table du végétarien (1903)
* Jules Lefèvre, Examen scientifique du végétarisme (1904)
* Henri Colliere, Végétarisme et longévité (1905)
* Hélène Sosnowska, Le végétarisme en thérapeutique (1912)