page_title: Frédéric Ozanam
section_title: Works
hierarchical_section_title: Frédéric Ozanam / Works
caption_attribution_description: English: Bust of Frédéric Ozanam
context_page_description: Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam was a French literary scholar, lawyer, journalist and equal rights advocate. 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 of Notre Dame de Paris in 1997, hence he may be properly called Blessed Frederic by Catholics. His feast day is September 9.
context_section_description: Ozanam "is recognized as a precursor of the Catholic Church's social doctrine, whose cultural and religious origins he wanted to know and on which he wrote books which are still in great demand." He was more learned, more sincere, and more logical than Chateaubriand; and less of a political partisan and 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 Revolution. He denounced the old alliance of "Throne and Altar" and pleaded with the Pope to adopt more liberal positions. He advocated the separation of church and state as conducive to liberty, and he was frequently impugned by reactionaries who accused him of deserting the Church.
  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 the aim of proving theses is perhaps not the ideal approach for a historian, 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:
  — (1836). Deux chanceliers d'Angleterre, Bacon de Verulam et Saint Thomas de Cantorbéry [Two chancellors of England: Francis Bacon and Saint Thomas Becket] (in French). Paris.
  — (1839). Dante et la philosophie catholique au XIIIeme siècle [Dante and Catholic philosophy in the 13th century] (in French). Paris. (2nd ed., enlarged 1845)
  — (1847–1849). Études germaniques [Germanic studies] (in French). 2 volumes. Paris. Translated by A. C. Glyn as History of Civilization in the Fifth Century (London, 1868)
  — (1850). Documents Inédits pour servir a l'histoire de l'Italie depuis le VIIIeme siècle jusqu'au XIIeme [Unpublished documents in the history of Italy from the 8th-12th centuries.] (in French). Paris.
  — (1852). Les Poètes franciscains en Italie au XIIIme siècle [Franciscan Poets in Italy in the 13th century] (in French). Paris.
  His letters were partly translated into English by A. Coates (London, 1886).
  == Legacy ==
  The following were named in his honour:
  Ozanam House, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
  Ozanam House, Sydney, a heritage-listed building in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  Ozanam House, Agidingbi, a heritage-listed building in Agidingbi, Lagos, Nigeria
  Ozanam Hall, Chicago, a residence hall at the Lincoln Park campus of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to 2020, the building was known as Clifton-Fullerton Hall. DePaul University Office of Housing
  Ozanam Inn, New Orleans, Louisiana, a shelter for the homeless.
caption: Bust of Frédéric Ozanam.
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