Charles Demia

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Charles Démia (born October 3, 1637 in Bourg-en-Bresse , † October 23, 1689 in Lyon ) was a French Roman Catholic clergyman, educator and founder of the order .

Origin and training to be a priest

Démia's father was in the service of powerful representatives of the regional nobility. At the age of ten, Charles Démia (also: Demia ) had already lost both parents and the only sister and was raised by an aunt. He attended the Jesuit college in Bourg, where he taught François d'Aix de Lachaise , then the Collège de la Trinité in Lyon. After studying law, he came in 1659 with Damien Hurtevent (1623–1671), a student of Jean-Jacques Olier , in contact and in 1660 went to Paris to study theology. When he was ordained a priest in 1663, his motto was: Evangelizare pauperibus misit me (He sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor). After a mission in the Poitiers area and a time as a visitor in the Bourg area, he went to Lyon in 1665 as a collaborator valued by Archbishop Camille de Neufville de Villeroy (1606-1693).

The teacher of the poor children

Having become aware of the illiteracy of the lower strata of society, Démia wrote a memorandum in 1666, which was printed in 1667 and had a considerable impact not only in Lyon but also in large parts of France. It turned to the City Council of Lyon and was entitled Remontrances (addressees) touchant la nécessité et utilité des Ecoles chrétiennes, pour l'instruction des Enfants pauvres (motion concerning the need and use of Christian schools for the instruction of poor children). His special idea was to combine the priestly profession and the teaching profession. To train the priests, he opened a kind of pedagogical college (the seminary of St. Charles Borromeo ) (also with the use of his own resources ). Supported by the Archbishop, he became Minister of Education of the Archdiocese.

For the education of girls, he founded his own women's order in 1680 (starting from 1671), the Soeurs de Saint-Charles (also: Soeurs de Saint-Charles de Lyon, " Charles Sisters of Lyon"), which still exist in France, Switzerland and Brazil today (not in German-speaking countries). When he died in 1689 (at the age of 52), there were 20 of his schools in Lyon, which trained 2,000 poor students per year. Démia's life's work preceded the comparable work of St. John Baptist de La Salle by ten years, but was outshone by the latter in later perception and was largely forgotten. It was not rediscovered until the 300th anniversary of his death in 1989. A school in Lyon bears his name.

Works

  • Trésor clérical, ou Conduites pour acquérir et conserver la sainteté ecclésiastique, recueilli des auteurs les plus considérables de ce temps qui ont traité de ces matières, par un officier de l'archevêché de Lyon . Certe, Lyon 1683, 1694.
  • Journal de 1685–1689 , ed. by Yves Poutet. Maison Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, Rome 1994.

literature

  • Charles Demia (1637-1689). Prêtre créateur des Petites Écoles des Pauvres à Lyon. Fondateur de la Congrégation St-Charles. Colloque interuniversitaire pour le tricentenaire de l'oeuvre de Charles Démia, 16-17 January 1990 . E. Robert, Lyon 1992.
  • Gabriel Compayré (1843-1913): Charles Démia et les origines de l'enseignement primaire . Paul Delaplane, Paris 1905.
  • Gilbert Roger: Charles Demia 1637-1689. Fondateur lyonnais des Petites Écoles des Pauvres . Editions E. Robert, Lyon 1989.

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personal data
SURNAME Demia, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Roman Catholic clergyman, educator and founder of an order
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1637
PLACE OF BIRTH Bourg-en-Bresse
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1689
Place of death Lyon