Paul Baugas, the founding father

PaulBAUGAS was born on March 19, 1861 in Saint-Denis-La-Chevasse, a modest Vendée village near La Roche-sur-Yon, where his maternal grandfather was a notary; his paternal forebears belonged to the Angevin Vendée. His other grandfather was Cholet's first canvas manufacturer. This double atavism already seemed to predispose him to make a connection between the two great disciplines that were to govern his life: law and commerce.

From his Vendée origins, his religious beliefs and moral convictions were firmly rooted in his most distant family traditions.

Turning to law after high school, he completed his bachelor's degree at the newly-created Université Libre d'Angers, then prepared his doctoral thesis in Paris. In it, he dealt with the problem of "lending at interest" and its legality in moral terms and in terms of its social consequences.This was a highly topical subject at a time when the law of January 1886 had just liberalized interest rates in commercial matters.

His work took up in broad outline the theses of Marquis René de LA TOUR DU PIN DE LA CHARCE (1810-1924), the main thinker behind corporatist revival and social Catholicism; all doctrines affirmed at the same time by Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) himself.me, who in his most famous encyclical, "Rerum Novarum", denounced the excesses of capitalism and concentration while defending the right of workers to a fair wage, the legitimacy of trade unions, and workers' rights.