Frederic ozanam essay

Antoine Frédéric Ozanam embodies the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He earned doctorates in law and literature by the age of twenty-six. He translated intellectual insights into practice as he endeavored to help build the good society.

The principal founder was Blessed Frederic Ozanam, who was a 20 year old student when the first Conference of SVP was established (Conference is the name for a group within SVP). Frederic and his friends engaged regularly in debate and discussion about inequality, social justice/injustice and their Christianity.

As a 20 year-old law student in Paris, Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853) and a few fellow law students founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which quickly grew throughout Europe and today is one of the largest charities in the world (with more than a million members on all continents).

In 1831, Ozanam arrived in Paris from his home in Lyon, ready to begin his studies at the University of Paris École du Droit (School of Law). At first blush, there was nothing remarkable about him. He was not handsome or elegant.