Jean-Baptiste André Godin
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Jean-Baptiste André Godin (; 26 January 1817 – 15 January 1888) was a French industrialist, writer and political theorist, and social innovator. A manufacturer of cast-iron stoves and influenced by
Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...
, he developed and built an industrial and residential community within
Guise Guise ( , ; ) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains of t ...
called the '' Familistère de Guise'' (Social Palace). He ultimately converted it to cooperative ownership and management by workers.


Early life and education

Born on 26 January 1817 at Esquéhéries (
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...
), Godin was the son of an artisan smith and his wife. Starting work at his father's
forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...
, he entered an
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
works at age eleven as an
apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...
. At age seventeen, he made a tour of France as
journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...
with his older cousin, Jean-Nicholas Moret, also an ironsmith.


Marriage and family

In 1840 he first married Esther Lemaire, at the age of 23.Émilie Moret Dallet, Auguste Fabre, and Jules Prudhomme, ''Le Familistère illustr, résultals de vingt ans d'association, 1880-1900''
(Eng. trans., ''Twenty-eight Years of Co-partnership at Guise'', by A. Williams, 1908), pp. 3-4, accessed 2 February 2011
They had a son M. Émile Godin. On July 14, 1886, after his first wife had died, Godin married Marie-Adèle Moret (27 April 1840 - 18 April 1908), born in Brie-Comte-Robert (Seine-et- Marne). She was the second daughter of his cousin Jean-Nicholas Moret and his wife Marie-Jean Philippe. Before their marriage, she had worked at Le Familistère for nearly 25 years, where she established numerous services for families with children: the nursery, infant school, and primary school; taught teachers; and set up an insurance program for workers, as well as founding health facilities. After Godin's death in 1888, Marie-Adèle helped care for the minor children of his son M. Émile Godin, who died 15 days after his father. She especially devoted herself to organizing Godin's papers, publishing some of his manuscripts, and working to keep Le Familistère going.Marie Adèle Moret Godin, Émilie Moret Dallet, ''In memoriam, Marie A. Moret, veuve de J.-B. André Godin''
Imprimerie Minon, 1908, pp. 5-9, accessed 2 February 2011


Career

Returning to Esquéhéries with his new wife in 1840, Godin started a small factory for the manufacture of castings for heating-stoves. That year he took out a patent for the stove, which he had invented. He believed that this was going to be a useful product for the age. With his business increasing rapidly, to take advantage of the
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
at
Guise Guise ( , ; ) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains of t ...
, Godin moved the factory there in 1846. He manufactured cookers and heating stoves of many kinds, mainly made from cast iron. Sometimes these were enameled. He became quite wealthy and used his money to establish funds and development for workers. At the same time, Godin and his cousin Moret had been learning about current socialist and communist thinking. Godin became an ardent disciple of the utopian
Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...
, whom he started studying in 1842, and thought hard about the future of workers and their communities. He helped fund V. P. Considerant's (q.v.) 1855 utopian community in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, known as ''La Reunion'', at the site of present-day Dallas. He learned by its failure, due partly to colonists ill-suited as agricultural pioneers. At the time of Godin's death in 1888, the annual output of ''Godin et Cie'' was valued at over four million
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s (4,160,000). In 1908 the employees numbered over 2000 and production was over seven million francs annually.


Godin's Familistère - its development and later history

From 1856 to 1859 Godin started the '' Familistère'' (Social Palace) in Guise on more carefully developed plans.Edward Howland, "The Social Palace at Guise" (illustrated)
''Harper's'' Monthly Magazine, vol. 44, December 1871-May 1872, published by Making of America Project, pp. 701-716, accessed 2 February 2011
His intention was to improve housing for workers, but also "production, trade, supply, education, and recreation", all the facets of life of a modern worker. He developed the Familistère as a self-contained community within the town, where he could encourage "social sympathy". The full site with the foundry was about eighteen acres, on either side of the River Oise. In addition to a large factory for cast-iron manufacture, three large buildings, each four stories high, were constructed to house all the workers and their families, with each family having apartments of two or three rooms. The main building consisted of three rectangular blocks joined at the corners. Each of these blocks had a large central court covered with a glass roof under which children could play in all weather. Galleries around the courtyard provided access to the apartments on each floor. There were also garden allotments for the workers. By 1872, when a correspondent from the American ''Harper's Magazine'' visited the complex, 900 workers (including women) and their families were housed there, for a total population of about 1200. The project contained no churches, but there were numerous churches elsewhere in Guise. At the back of the main block was a nursery, a ''pouponnat'' (or infant school) for toddlers and children up to age four, the ''bambinat'' for children 4–6. Opposite the main block was a building containing a theater for concerts and dramatic entertainments, and a primary school for children over six. A separate block, known as the "économats", contained various shops, refreshment and recreation rooms of various kinds, and grocery and stores for the purchase of every necessity. Produce and goods were purchased at wholesale prices and sold with little mark-up, with workers manning the shops. Goods were stored beneath the buildings, where there were storage areas for the families. Godin developed the Familistère over 20 years, beginning soon after the 1848 Revolution and disruption in France. Through it all he worked for social reform. During the
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
of 1870, he helped defend the country. In 1871 Godin was elected deputy for Aisne, but retired in 1876 to devote himself to the management of the Familistère. In 1878 he founded the journal ''Le Devoir'' (Labor). In 1880 Godin created the association documents for the Familistère, converting it as he had long intended into a co-operative society, eventually to be owned by the workers. It was called ''l'Association coopérative du Capital et du Travail''. When he died in 1888, it was expected that his widow would carry on leadership of the institution.Laurence Gronlund, "Godin's 'Social Palace'", Arena 1888/1889. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858039622398&seq=731 accessed December 11, 2024 The workers and residents did eventually come to own the buildings and the foundry. The foundry operated as a co-op or joint-stock company for decades. The building housing the ''nourricerie-pouponnat'' was destroyed in 1918 during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and never rebuilt. The foundry was still owned by the workers in the 1950s, but shortly afer that the manufacturer ''Le Creuset'' took it over in a purchase. In 1968 the cooperative association for the Social Palace was dissolved, and the apartments were sold at moderate prices by Godin S.A. They have been gradually modified through individual owners' decisions. The same year, the cooperative ''economats'' were dissolved. In 1991 its building was classified as a ''Monument Historique'', and in 2000 restoration of the building was begun."Découvrir le palais pas à pas" (Discovering the Palace step by step)
''Le Familistère de Guise: une utopie realisée'', Official Website (in French and English), accessed 2 February 2011
In the early 21st century, some of the domestic buildings were restored for private, adaptive use. Restoration of the ''economats'' building was completed in 2008, with spaces adapted as a cafe, a bookstore and gift shop, and an exhibition area. The communal laundry rooms, baths and swimming pool, in a separate building on the opposite bank, where water was heated by the factory, had become derelict but have been restored. The communal laundry has been converted to a meeting room, and the drying room to an exhibition room.


Legacy and honors

*In 1882 Godin was created a
Knight of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was o ...
. *Working models of the Godin stoves are still to be found in use all over France, and some are for sale on
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. *Some of the domestic buildings at the Familistère have been updated for residents, and special purpose buildings have been restored for contemporary use. The site is open for visitors and tours, and there are plans to establish a museum of industry.


Works

*''Solutions sociales'' (1871); *''Les Socialistes et les Droits du travail'' (1874); *''Mutualité sociale et association du capital et du travail'' (1880); and *''La Republique du travail et la reforme parlementaire'' (1889).


See also

*
Utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...


References


Further reading

*F. Bernardot, ''Le Familistère de Guise, association du capital et du travail, et son fondateur, J.B.A. Godin'', Guise: Dequennes et cit, 1889 *Draperi, Jean-François, ''Godin, inventeur de l'économie sociale: mutualiser, coopérer, s'associer'', Paris: Repas, 2008 *Fischer, ''Die Familistère Godins'' (
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, 1890) * Lallement, Michel, ''Le travail de l'utopie. J.-B. A. Godin et le Familistère de Guise'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2009
Louis Lestelle, ''Etude sur le Familistère de Guise''
Paris: Librairie Nouvelle du Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1904, accessed 2 February 2011


External links


"Le Familistère de Guise: une utopie realisée"
Official Website (in French and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Godin, Jean-Baptiste-Andre 1817 births 1888 deaths People from Aisne Politicians from Hauts-de-France French republicans Members of the National Assembly (1871) French industrialists French cooperative organizers French political writers Founders of utopian communities French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French businesspeople Utopian socialists Fourierists French socialists