Joseph Lakanal
Encyclopedia
Joseph Lakanal was a French
politician, and an original member of the Institut de France
.
, Ariège
, his name was originally Lacanal, and was altered to distinguish him from his Royalist
brothers. He studied theology
, and joined one of the teaching congregations
(Pères de la Doctrine Chrétienne), and for fourteen years taught in their schools. He was professor of rhetoric
at Bourges
, and of philosophy
at Moulins
.
He was elected by his native département to the National Convention
of the French Republic in 1792, where he sat until 1795; Lakanal was one of the noted administrators of the French Revolution
. At the time of his election, he was acting as vicar
to his uncle Bernard Font (1723–1800), the constitutional bishop
of Pamiers
. In the Convention, he sat with The Mountain
and voted for the execution
of King Louis XVI
.
, on the reorganization of the Jardin des Plantes
as the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
, and other matters (such as the creation of the École publique des Langues Orientales vivantes
), he brought forward on June 26 his Projet d'éducation nationale (printed at the Imprimerie Nationale
), which proposed to lay the burden or primary education
on the public funds, but to leave secondary education
to private enterprise; public fête
s were also assigned specified sums, and a central commission was to be entrusted with educational questions.
The project, to which Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
also contributed, was refused by the Convention, who submitted the whole question to a special Commission of six, which, under the influence of Maximilien Robespierre
, adopted a report by Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau (shortly before his death).
Lakanal, who was a member of the commission, now began to work for the organization of higher education
, and, abandoning the principle of his Projet, advocated the establishment of state-aided schools for primary, secondary and university education. In October 1793, he was sent by the Convention to the south-western départements and did not return to Paris
until after the revolution of Thermidor
that toppled Robespierre.
s of départements, for primary schools (in accordance with his previous Projet) and central schools; Lakanal accepted resolutions against his own system, but continued his educational reforms after his election to the Council of the Five Hundred in 1795.
In 1799 he was sent by the Directory
to organize the defence of the four départments on the left bank of the Rhine (in Alsace
and Lorraine
), threatened by the invasion of counter-Revolution forces
(the Second Coalition).
and Empire
, Lakanal resumed his professional work, as a professor at the Lycée Charlemagne
, and after the battle of Waterloo
(1815), he retired to the United States
. He was welcomed there by President
James Madison
, and the United States Congress
gave him a grant of 500 acre
s (2 km²) in the Vine and Olive Colony
in Alabama
. He then later became a planter
, and was afterward chosen president of the University of Louisiana, known today as Tulane University
.
He returned to France in 1834, and published in 1838 an Expos sommaire des travaux de Joseph Lakanal. Shortly afterwards, in spite of his advanced age, Lakanal married a second time. He died in Paris; his widow died in 1881. Lakanal's éloge
at the Academy of Moral and Political Science, of which he was a member, was pronounced by the Comte de Rémusat
(February 16, 1845), and a Notice historique by François Mignet
was read on May 2, 1857.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
politician, and an original member of the Institut de France
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
.
Early career
Born in SerresSerres-sur-Arget
Serres-sur-Arget is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Serres-sur-Arget are called Serrésiens.-References:*...
, Ariège
Ariège
Ariège is a department in southwestern France named after the Ariège River.- History :Ariège is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the counties of Foix and Couserans....
, his name was originally Lacanal, and was altered to distinguish him from his Royalist
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
brothers. He studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, and joined one of the teaching congregations
Congregation (catholic)
The term "congregation" has three usages specific to the Roman Catholic Church. One concerns the Roman Curia, the other two concern religious institutes.- Roman Curia :...
(Pères de la Doctrine Chrétienne), and for fourteen years taught in their schools. He was professor of rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
at Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
, and of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Moulins
Moulins, Allier
Moulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin the Anne de Beaujeu Museum.-History:...
.
He was elected by his native département to the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
of the French Republic in 1792, where he sat until 1795; Lakanal was one of the noted administrators of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. At the time of his election, he was acting as vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
to his uncle Bernard Font (1723–1800), the constitutional bishop
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government....
of Pamiers
Pamiers
Pamiers is a commune in the Ariège department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Although Pamiers is the largest city in Ariège, the capital is the smaller town of Foix...
. In the Convention, he sat with The Mountain
The Mountain
The Mountain refers in the context of the history of the French Revolution to a political group, whose members, called Montagnards, sat on the highest benches in the Assembly...
and voted for the execution
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
.
Projects and reforms
Lakanal became a member of the Committee of Public Instruction early in 1793, and after carrying many useful decrees on the preservation of national monuments, on the military schoolsMilitary academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
, on the reorganization of the Jardin des Plantes
Jardin des Plantes
The Jardin des Plantes is the main botanical garden in France. It is one of seven departments of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. It is situated in the 5ème arrondissement, Paris, on the left bank of the river Seine and covers 28 hectares .- Garden plan :The grounds of the Jardin des...
as the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
, and other matters (such as the creation of the École publique des Langues Orientales vivantes
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...
), he brought forward on June 26 his Projet d'éducation nationale (printed at the Imprimerie Nationale
Imprimerie nationale
The Imprimerie nationale is the official printing works of the French government, in succession to the Manufacture royale d'imprimerie founded by Cardinal Richelieu...
), which proposed to lay the burden or primary education
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
on the public funds, but to leave secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
to private enterprise; public fête
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
s were also assigned specified sums, and a central commission was to be entrusted with educational questions.
The project, to which Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès , commonly known as Abbé Sieyès, was a French Roman Catholic abbé and clergyman, one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire...
also contributed, was refused by the Convention, who submitted the whole question to a special Commission of six, which, under the influence of Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
, adopted a report by Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau (shortly before his death).
Lakanal, who was a member of the commission, now began to work for the organization of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
, and, abandoning the principle of his Projet, advocated the establishment of state-aided schools for primary, secondary and university education. In October 1793, he was sent by the Convention to the south-western départements and did not return to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
until after the revolution of Thermidor
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
that toppled Robespierre.
Thermidor and Directory
He became president of the Education Committee, and promptly abolished the system which had had Robespierre's support. He drew up schemes for normal schoolNormal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
s of départements, for primary schools (in accordance with his previous Projet) and central schools; Lakanal accepted resolutions against his own system, but continued his educational reforms after his election to the Council of the Five Hundred in 1795.
In 1799 he was sent by the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
to organize the defence of the four départments on the left bank of the Rhine (in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
), threatened by the invasion of counter-Revolution forces
French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1799
By 1799, the French Revolutionary Wars had resumed after a period of relative peace in 1798. The Second Coalition had organized against France, with Great Britain allying with Russia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and several of the minor German and Italian states...
(the Second Coalition).
Later life and exile
Under the ConsulateFrench Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
and Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, Lakanal resumed his professional work, as a professor at the Lycée Charlemagne
Lycée Charlemagne
The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France.Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuits...
, and after the battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
(1815), he retired to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was welcomed there by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
, and the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
gave him a grant of 500 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (2 km²) in the Vine and Olive Colony
Vine and Olive Colony
The Vine and Olive Colony was an ill-fated effort by a group of French Bonapartists who, fearing for their lives after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration, attempted to establish an agricultural settlement growing wine grapes and olive trees in the Alabama wilderness...
in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. He then later became a planter
Plantation economy
A plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
, and was afterward chosen president of the University of Louisiana, known today as Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.
He returned to France in 1834, and published in 1838 an Expos sommaire des travaux de Joseph Lakanal. Shortly afterwards, in spite of his advanced age, Lakanal married a second time. He died in Paris; his widow died in 1881. Lakanal's éloge
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
at the Academy of Moral and Political Science, of which he was a member, was pronounced by the Comte de Rémusat
Charles de Rémusat
Charles François Marie, Comte de Rémusat , was a French politician and writer.-Biography:He was born in Paris. His father, Auguste Laurent, Comte de Rémusat, of a good family of Toulouse, was chamberlain to Napoleon Bonaparte, but acquiesced in the restoration and became prefect first of Haute...
(February 16, 1845), and a Notice historique by François Mignet
François Mignet
François Auguste Marie Mignet was a French journalist and historian.-Biography:He was born in Aix-en-Provence , France. His father was a locksmith from the Vendée, who enthusiastically accepted the principles of the French Revolution and encouraged liberal ideas in his son...
was read on May 2, 1857.
External links
- Bio sketch (in French)
- Lakan's tomb in Père-Lachaise (in French)
- A book edited by the Centre national de documentation pédagogique of Ariège (in French)