In 2023 we celebrate the 190th anniversary of our Society. On April 23 1833, his 20th birthday, Ozanam invited five other students to a meeting, where they founded the first conference of Charity to assist the poor. The six students chose Emanuel Baily as their first president. Under the mentorship of Rosalie Rendu, the 46-year-old superior of the daughters of charity the conference members learned how to help the poor by visiting them in their homes. The conference was soon renamed the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813 – 1853)

Frédéric Ozanam is remembered as the primary founder of the Society. A brilliant scholar who was fluent in six languages, Ozanam had earned two bachelor’s degrees and two doctorates by the age of 26. He was the natural leader of the seven who founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He was an outspoken advocate for the poor whose writings greatly influenced the church’s social teaching. Married, and the father of one daughter, he spent most of his adult life as a professor at the Sorbonne. Frédéric died at the age of 40, and was beatified in 1997 by Pope St John Paul II.

Blessed Rosalie Rendu (1786 – 1856)

Rosalie was born Jeanne-Marie Rendu and joined the Daughters of Charity in 1802. In 1815 she became the superior of her community. With her sisters she helped the most destitute people of Paris. She opened a free clinic, a pharmacy, a school, a child and matermal care centre, a youth club for young workers and a home for the elderly without any resources. For young girls and needy mothers she organised courses in sewing and embroidering. In 1840 she helped reestablish the Ladies of Charity, who helped in the home visits, and in 1851 she took over the running of an orphanage. She was beatified on 9 November 2003.

Emmanuel Bailly (1794 – 1861)

Nearly 40 when the Society was founded, Bailly was the publisher of the Tribune Catholique newspaper. Along with Ozanam, Bailly helped revive the Conference of History discussion group which would eventually lead to the foundation of the Society. He was a mentor to the young men, and was elected as the first President of the Society. It was Bailly who introduced the first members to Blessd Rosalie, and he also served as the first Conference’s Spiritual Advisor.

François Lallier (1814 – 1886)

While Ozanam was recognized by all the founders as first among them, Paul Lamache recalled that Lallier “was easily second.” His reserved and serious demeanor led to his nickname of “Father Lallier.” Along with Bailly, Lallier drafted the first Rule, and in 1837 became the Society’s first Secretary General. He remained very close to Ozanam throughout Frédéric’s lifetime.

Auguste Le Taillandier (1811 – 1886)

Le Taillandier, friend and roommate of Ozanam, was a member of the Conference of History, but was less interested in the intellectual debates that Frédéric so enjoyed. It was le Taillandier who first suggested forming a charitable organization of some kind, rather than trying to win the arguments. He would go on to be a very successful business executive, and long-time president of the Conference he founded in his hometown of Rouen.

Jules Devaux (1811 – 1880)

Jules Devaux, who would become a doctor, was the first member sent by Bailly to approach Rosalie Rendu, and it is believed he may have worked with her prior to the founding of the Society. Devaux is believed to have been the first to take up a “secret collection” in the first Conference, and he served as the first treasurer of that Conference, as well as the first treasurer of the Council General.

Paul Lamache (1810 – 1892)

Lamache was the oldest of the six student founders, and, like Ozanam, would become a lawyer. While he never served in a leadership role, Lamache remained an active Vincentian for 60 years. An outspoken advocate of abolishing slavery, Lamache turned down an opportunity to serve as a judge in the colonies, where he would have been bound to enforce slavery under the law.

Felix Clavé (1811 – 1853)

Clave had originally joined the Conference of History. It was Clavé who formed the third Conference, which was notable because unlike the second Conference, which was simply split from the first, this was an entirely new Conference. Clave made his living as a writer, and also brought the Society to Algiers.