BUCHEZ, PHILIPPE JOSEPH BENJAMIN

Important contributor to the formative ideas of Christian socialism in 19th-century France; b. Matagnela-Petite, March 31, 1796; d. Rodez, Aug. 12, 1865. Buchez became a doctor of medicine in 1824 but was more interested in revolutionary activity. In 1821 he founded with Armand Bazard Le Charbonnerie française, which sought the overthrow of the Bourbons and the convocation of a national constitutional assembly. He was at first a disciple of C. H. de saint-simon but was converted to Catholicism in 1829. He was never a practicing Catholic because he hoped by his nonobservance to be more successful in reaching republicans with his message of social Christianity. As a philosopher, historian, economist, socialist, and deputy, he believed that the ideals of the french revolution were a development of the fundamental truths of Christianity and especially of the call to the disinterested service of one's fellow man.

His ideas were expressed in numerous publications, especially in the journals L'Européen (1831–32, 1835–38), Revue Nationale (1847–48), L'Atelier (1840–50); in the prefaces of the 40 volumes of his L'Histoire parlementaire de la Révolution française (1833–38); and in L'Essai d'un traité complet de philosophie au point de vue du catholicisme et du progrès (1838–40). He complemented his critique of the industrial system with proposed remedies, including associations of working men and credit facilities; these ideas were influential during the Revolution of 1848 and the Second Republic, a period in which Buchez served briefly as first president of the National Assembly.

Bibliography: a. cuvillier, P.-J. Buchez et les origines du socialisme chrétien (Paris 1948). j. b. duroselle, Les Débuts du catholicisme social en France, 1822–1870 (Paris 1951).

[e. t. gargan]