Histoire du don en France, 1800-1939 : les libéralités aux institutions

by Jean-Luc Marais

Doctoral thesis in Histoire

Under the supervision of Jacques-Guy Petit.

defended on 1996

in Angers .

Alternative Title

A history of donations in france 1800-1939. Charity given to institutions

Abstract

State-approved and public institutions such as hospitals, charitable institutions, councils, religious or academic establishements etc, were entitled to receive donations or legacies. With the civil code reinforcing the ancien regime's legislation, such donations had to be authorized by the government. From 1800 to 1939 the conditions required for the government's authorization together with the contraints it imposed changed slightly as a result of the successive welfare and religious policies as well as the pressure from public opinion. Until 1905 welfare institutions were given the largest amount of money and as often as not donations benefited religious institutions while councils, learned bodies and universities received fewer donations. The sum total of money given, wich rose steadily until world war one, contributed substantially to welfare institutions. The number of donors remained unchanged with constant local differences however. The donors-about as many men as women-were mostly childess or single individuals with no directs heirs. Donations often went with duties, either religious or otherwise, to perpetuate the donor's memory. Donations were meant to improve the running of welfare institutions as the environment, to help the church and encourage some intellectual activities or moral attitudes by awarding prizes. The relatively minor role of donations in france can be accounted for by the state distrusting private initiatives and the weight of family traditions that deterred people from handing down their fortune to someone outside the family circle. Inflation in the 20ies reduced the value of traditional donations while new donations patterns developed such as subscriptions or smaller but regular donations to private associations

keywords

• Don -- France -- 19e siècle
• Don -- France -- 1900-1945
• Bienfaiteurs -- France -- Histoire
• Libéralités -- France -- Histoire
• Legs -- France -- Histoire

Abstract

Les institutions publiques et d'utilite publique telles que les hopitaux, les bureaux de bienfaisance, les communes, les etablissements religieux, les academies, etc. , peuvent recevoir des dons des legs. Renforcant la legislation d'ancien regime, le code civil impose une autorisation du gouvernement pour ce type de liberalites. Les modalites de cette autorisation, les contraintes qu'elle entraine, ont legerement varie de 1800 a 1939, en raison des politiques successives dans les domaines de l'assistance et religieux, et de la pression de l'opinion. Ce sont les institutions d'assistance qui recoivent les sommes les plus importantes, et ce sont les etablissements religieux qui beneficient le plus frequemment de ces liberalites (jusqu'en 1905). Communes, corps savants, universites attirent des liberalites moins nombreuses. La valeur des dons croit jusqu'a la guerre de 1914. Les sommes donnees representent longtemps un apport essentiel pour les etablissements d'assistance. Le nombre de donateurs est regulier; des nuances regionales apparaissent, tres stables. Les donateurs, a peu pres a egalite hommes et femmes, sont essentiellement des personnes sans enfant ou celibataires, sans heritiers directs. Le don s'accompagne souvent de charges religieuses ou non, devant assurer la memoire du donateur. On donne pour ameliorer le fonctionnement des institutions d'assistance, pour ameliorer le cadre de vie, pour aider l'eglise, pour encourager par des prix certaines activites intellectuelles, certains comportements moraux. La place relativement faible du don en france tient a la mefiance de l'etat devant les initiatives privees, et a la force des traditions familiales qui decourage la transmission des biens hors de la famille. L'inflation des annees 20 reduit la valeur des dons traditionnels, tandis que se developpent des formes nouvelles: souscriptions, dons reguliers mais de moindre valeur a des associations privees.