Philibert Vrau

Philibert Vrau (b. at Lille, 19 November 1829; d. there, 16 May 1905) was a French businessman, lay Roman Catholic activist, and Christian socialist. Life His father was a manufacturer of sewing thread; his mother, Sophie Aubineau, was a Parisian. He attended the municipal college of Lille. His teacher, a pupil of Victor Cousin, inspired him with an enthusiasm for philosophy. He gave up the practice of his Catholic religion for four years. During this time he was active in a purely philanthropic society for the aged poor. After his conversion in 1854 he turned this into a religious society. Philibert then had to retrieve heavy financial losses of the family firm. With his brother-in-law, the physician Dr. Camille Féron-Vrau (1831–1908), he established religious and beneficial societies for the working people, planned model dwellings for them, and also organized a society of employers and employees. They insisted on the right of the labourer to a living wage.