Donald Watson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald Watson (born September 2, 1910 in South Yorkshire , † November 16, 2005 in Cumbria ) was the founder of the Vegan Society in 1944 and inventor of the word " vegan ".

Veganism

His interest in veganism started when he was very young. He was often visiting his uncle's farm. He described this as follows:

“ I was surrounded by interesting animals. They all 'gave' something: one horse pulled the plow, another pulled the horse-drawn carriage, the cows gave milk, the hens gave eggs, and the rooster was a useful alarm system - at the time I had not yet realized that he had another held another function. The sheep gave wool. I could never understand what the pigs were doing, but they were such friendly creatures - always happy to see me. "

- Donald Watson

The purpose of the pigs, he realized when he saw one being slaughtered - which changed his life fundamentally. At the age of fourteen he became a vegetarian. He had spontaneously decided to do it for the New Year. He became a vegan in the 1940s after studying milk production.

In 1944 he founded the Vegan Society with a few friends . One of them mentioned a word to describe their diet. However, Watson suggested the term “vegan” by using the first three and the last two letters of the English word vegetarian (German “vegetarisch”). This should clarify the beginning and the end in terms of vegetarianism. This expression eventually caught on within the community.

resume

Watson grew up as the son of a school principal and grew up in a mining company in Mexborough, south Yorkshire . Vegetarianism and veganism were unknown in its immediate vicinity . However, his parents encouraged and supported him and his two siblings to go their own way in life. He also strictly refused to consume alcohol, cigarettes or other addictive substances. As a staunch pacifist, he was exposed to intense hostility, particularly during the Second World War.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Watson, Donald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British founder of the Vegan Society
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH South Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 2005
Place of death Cumbria