Joseph Wresinski (12 February 1917 in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

– 14 February 1988 in

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud an ...

) was a French priest and humanitarian activist.

Biography

Born to immigrant parents, Wresinski grew up in poverty and experienced social exclusion. He established major landmarks throughout his life in the fight against the worst forms of poverty, in collaboration with the very poor themselves and other partners. He also developed a blueprint for a civilisation without exclusion based on his work in the field of human activity, a civilisation with the contributions of all people, and for the benefit of all. Wresinski was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1946. Consequently, in 1956, he was assigned by his bishop to be chaplain for 250 families placed in emergency housing in

Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée. ...

. A year later, in response to this, he founded the International Movement

ATD Fourth World The International Movement ATD Fourth World is a nonprofit organization which aims towards the eradication of chronic poverty through a human-rights based approach. It works in partnership with communities across the world to end the exclusion an ...

in 1957. He authored the report Grande pauvreté et précarité économique et sociale (

Chronic Poverty Chronic poverty is a phenomenon whereby an individual or group is in a state of poverty over extended period of time. While determining both the implicit poverty line and the duration needed to be considered long-term is debated, the identification ...

and Lack of Basic Security), which was commissioned by the

French Economic and Social Council The Economic, Social and Environmental Council (French: ''Conseil économique, social et environnemental''), known as the Economic and Social Council before the constitutional law of 23 July 2008, is a consultative assembly in France. It does ...

, and later adopted by this council, of which he was a member. This report paved the way for substantial work undertaken by the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, and the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. It also paved the way for the law against

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

that was adopted by France in July 1998. In 1987, Fr. Wresinski launched the

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an international observance celebrated each year on October 17 throughout the world. The first commemoration, "World Day to Overcome Poverty" took place in Paris, France, in 1987 when 100,000 ...

(17 October), later recognised by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

References

Initial text of this article was excerpted from Redefining Human Rights-Based Development : The Wresinski Approach to Partnership With the Poorest UN Document ESA/DSPD/BP3 December 1999 Division for Social Policy and Development Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK 1917 births 1988 deaths People from Angers French anti-poverty advocates French Servants of God {{France-reli-bio-stub