Guillaume de Felice
Encyclopedia
Count Panzutti
Count Panzutti is an 18th century Italian hereditary title, famously held by Fortunato and Guillaume de Félice.The title was passed by decree by the Contessa di Panzutti who held it "suo jure" as instructed in the 1st Count's will to Fortunato Felice in 1756, and has continued being inherited in...
(1803–71) was a Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
nobleman, theologian and abolitionist.
Early life
Félice was born on 12 March 1803 in OtterbergOtterberg
Otterberg is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 inhabitants. It is situated approx...
and died on 23 October 1871 in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and was the grandson of Fortunato de Felice
Fortunato Felice
Fortunato Bartolommeo Felice , 2nd Comte de Panzutti, also known as Fortuné-Barthélemy de Félice and Francesco Placido Bartolomeo De Felice, was an Italian nobleman, a famed author, scientist, and said to have been one of the most important publishers of the 18th century.-Biography:Forunato Felice...
by his son Bernard. Guillaume grew up in a French environment as the family settled in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
in 1804, and inherited his grandfather's vigour for radicalism and academia.
He studied theology at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
universities and was accepted into the Church in 1827. He became a pastor at the Reformed Church of Bolbec
Bolbec
Bolbec is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. Its inhabitants are called Bolbécais or Bolbécaises.-Geography:...
, in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre...
, then a professor of theology in Montauban
Montauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, occupying the chair 'de morale et d'éloquence sacrée' (of morality and holy speech). In later life he settled in his family town of Yverdon and married Joséphine Rivier, the daughter of a local aristocrat.
Abolitionism
Whilst at BolbecBolbec
Bolbec is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. Its inhabitants are called Bolbécais or Bolbécaises.-Geography:...
, it is thought that his interest in abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
was heightened due to its proximity to the slave-port of Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
.
Félice started the movement against the French slave camps in Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, at the time a very controversial subject. It was through his religious beliefs that he pursued his struggle against slavery, resulting in him drafting the famous French petition of 1846 in favor of abolition. Felice maintainted a long correspondence with English abolitionists, who won their case in 1833, France abolishing slavery in 1848.
Sources
- Dict. du monde religieux dans la France contemporaine, 5, 1993
- "Un pasteur baptiste guadeloupéen réfléchit sur la "guerre des mémoires" – (French)
Further reading
- Full Biography of Guillaume de Felice
- "Benjamin-Sigismond Frossard et Guillaume de Felice: deux theologiens protestants anti-esclavagistes" by Zorn, J.-F.
