Louis François Emmanuel MERMET (1763-1825)

French abbot, teacher and philosopher

He was born on January 25, 1763.

The following is a summary of the rich life of this illustrious figure, taken from his work "LES OEUVRES de Monsieur MERMET", published in 1814 by the Parisian printer Laurens Aîné.

After studying philosophy and theology at the seminary of St-Irénée in Lyon, he passed the agrégation at the University of Valence and took the degrees of maître-es-arts and bachelier en théologie.

He earned the double honor of being named professor of philosophy by the town of St-Claude and by the bishop of the diocese in which he was born.

He held three chairs of philosophy: in Lyon, Avignon and Autun. As an only child, he became close to his widowed mother.

He was a professor at St-Claude.

When he became a priest, he was appointed to a cure on July 25, 1788. He then took the oath to the civil constitution of the clergy. When he became aware of plans against the Church, he retracted his oath.

After the revolutionary regime banned the public practice of Catholic worship, he fled Saint-Claude. During his flight, he wrote a memoir on the means to revive agriculture and the industrial arts in this country, where industry is the main resource.

Shortly afterwards, he returned as a professor of literature at the central school of the Ain department, then at Moulins.

During the revolutionary period, he wrote some fifteen works.

It has been said that he was married, and here are the lines he wrote about this marriage.

"It was said that I had been married. The same was once said of Bossuet and Cardinal Dubois. When I would have lent myself to a purely external demonstration of marriage to save my life, what could be concluded against me? But the loss of all priests had been sworn to, and the whole of France had read in Perlet's newspaper that a motion had been made to guillotine all priests who did not marry. But I defy anyone to prove that I ever lived with a woman. Persecution was not the same for all priests, and we cannot use the conduct of some to condemn the conduct of others.

The work of Louis François Emmanuel MERMET, little known today, left its mark through the scientific and literary wealth that marked his era.

Around 1814, he was appointed Honorary Canon of Versailles.

He spent the rest of his life at St-Claude, where he was a member of the college's administrative board around 1820.

A benefactor of the hospital, he donated his farm in the small hamlet of Taillat, near Les Bouchoux, on his death.

He died in Saint-Claude on August 27, 1825.