Bervanger Martin De
Bervanger, Martin de
A French priest, founder of charitable institutions; b. at Sarrelouis, 15 May, 1795; d. at Paris, 1865. After being for some time assistant pastor in his native city, he took part, in 1822, in the foundation of the Association Royale de Saint-Joseph, and later of the Oeuvre de Saint-Henri. These two institutions were destined to give to workingmen free instruction and professional training. To reach this end more effectively, he founded, in 1827, a boarding-school where, besides manual training, poor boys could receive intellectual, religious, and moral education. This is the Oeuvre de Saint-Nicolas. In the beginning only seven children were in the establishment, but it soon developed and was transferred form its poor quarters in the Faubourg Saint-Marceau, to a better location in the Rue Vaugirard. At the time of the Revolution of 1830, the first two institutions disappeared, but the Institution Saint-Nicolas remained. It had many difficulties to overcome; the resources were insufficient; proper instructors could not always be found; suspicions of political intrigues were entertained by the Government, which led to various vexatious inquiries. De Bervanger succeeded in overcoming all obstacles, and the institution became more and more prosperous. Soon a branch establishment was founded at Issy. In 1859 De Bervanger turned over the institution to Cardinal Morlot, Archbishop of Paris, who gave the direction of it to the Christian Brothers. It has since been enlarged. De Bervanger wrote the “Règle de l’oeuvre de Saint Nicolas” (1853).
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Dictionnaire de pedagogie (Paris, 1887), I, pt. I, 189.
C.A. DUBRAY Transcribed by Susan Birkenseer
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Bervanger Martin De
a Roman prelate and philanthropist, was born at Sarrelouis, May 15, 1795. He was at first vicar in his native city. After having concurred in the work of St. Joseph founded by the abbot Larenbruck, he created the institution of St. Nicholas, intended for the instruction of children who were obliged to live by their own labor. This work, inspired by Christian charity, was at first very small. The first establishment of this kind was in 1837, in an attic in the suburbs of St. Marceau, attended by seven children, who made good progress. It required a great deal of patience and labor to bring the institution to a successful issue. This work of M. de Bervanger remains, and is one of the most useful imaginable. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.