Joseph Alexandre Victor d'Hupay (1746–1818) was a French writer and philosopher. He is known for being perhaps the first writer to use the term ''
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
'' in its modern sense.
He wished to transform the ideals of the Enlightenment philosophers into practice.
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Life and works
In 1746 Victor d'Hupay was born into an aristocratic family in the village of La Tour-d'Aigues
La Tour-d'Aigues (; oc, La Torre d'Egues) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France.
Geography
The town is located at th ...
in the Luberon
The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mountain ranges (from w ...
, Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
.
d'Hupay began writing his first texts on the rural economy
Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural developmen ...
when he was seventeen. He believed agriculture to be the basis of wealth, and followed the physiocrat
Physiocracy (; from the Greek for "government of nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th-century Age of Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations derived solely from the value of "land agricultur ...
movement that advocated an economy based upon it just as Marquis de Mirabeau did.
He followed the example of Baron de La Tour-d'Aigues, who was interested in land development and had one of the largest libraries of the time on this subject. d'Hupay challenged the display of wealth of Bruny, and other barons, because he, as a follower of Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
, wanted a simpler more rural life away from the tumult of cities. He read Enlightenment philosophers, and wished to put their ideas into action.
In 1770, he bought the bastide
Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the fir ...
of Puget in Fuveau
Fuveau (; oc, Fuvèu) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône departm ...
, thus acquiring his rights as a nobleman. During his life, Victor d'Hupay divided his time between La Tour-d'Aigues, Aix-en-Provence and the neighbouring village of Fuveau, to the south of Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire ( Provençal oc, Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and oc, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri, label=none according to Mistralian orthography) is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France whi ...
. The restored family bastide in Fuveau was run according to his principles. Once his country house in Fuveau was restored, he published his first book, '' Projet de communauté philosophe'', which advocated the idea of living in a sort of commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
. In the book, he told how he wanted to gather in his new home a circle of friends for a life in community.
In 1785, he defined himself as a communist author - a word that has existed since the twelfth century to designate certain forms of pooling of goods - in the sense of a supporter of the community of goods. Around this time, just before the French revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, he was referred to as a communist in a book review by Restif de la Bretonne
Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne, born Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Restif (; 23 October 1734 – 3 February 1806), also known as Rétif, was a French novelist. The term '' retifism'' for shoe fetishism was named after him (an early nov ...
; according to some sources, this was the first time that the word "communism" was used in print in its modern sense.
During the Revolution, Victor d'Hupay became enthusiastic about new ideas. He corresponded with Mirabeau and Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (also called Bernardin de St. Pierre) (19 January 1737, in Le Havre – 21 January 1814, in Éragny, Val-d'Oise) was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel '' Paul et Virginie'', ...
. He presented several projects of national education and models of government to the National Assembly, and militated for the suppression of marriage, which he saw as a form of property owning. Despite his commitment to the revolution, he was imprisoned under the Terror and his house was looted. He wrote a little under the Empire and died at Fuveau in 1818, at the age of seventy-two.
References
*
External links
Website devoted to Victor d'Hupay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hupay de Fuveau, Victor
French political writers
French communists
18th-century French writers
18th-century French male writers
People from Vaucluse
writers from Aix-en-Provence
1746 births
1818 deaths
French male writers
French male essayists
18th-century essayists
18th-century socialists