Jean Firmin Marbeau (1798 – October 10, 1875) was a French

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who pioneered the ''crèche'' movement, a forerunner of modern

day care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

. Marbeau was born in

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 7 ...

, and was by profession a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He is best known for founding the first ''crèche'', which opened in Paris on November 14, 1844. The ''crèche'' provided child care to enable working-class mothers to work jobs outside of the home, and spawned a Crèche Movement that led to a number of similar establishments being opened in France; the concept was also influential on the development of day care in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Marbeau wrote a number of books promoting the concept, and died in

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...

in 1875.

Writings

* ''Politique des intérêts'' (1834) * ''Études sur l'économie sociale'' (1844) * ''Des crèches'' (1845) * ''Du paupérisme en France'' (1847) * ''De l'indigence et des secours'' (1850)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marbeau, Firmin 1798 births 1875 deaths French philanthropists French non-fiction writers French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French writers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 19th-century philanthropists