Recently,
there are
works that
rescued
scenarios of
Spiritism in
France or,
considering
the context
of the most
disclosed
literature
in Brazil,
in a way
very
institutionalized,
we can say
that many
episodes are
being
rewritten
based on
facts and
documents.
Recent
productions
include: Em
Nome de
Kardec (On
behalf of
Kardec),
by Adriano
Calsone1; Revolucao
Espirita: a
teoria
esquecida de
Allan Kardec, (Spiritist
Revolution:
the
forgotten
theory of
Allan
Kardec), by
Paulo
Henrique de
Figueiredo2; O
Legado de
Allan Kardec (The
legacy of
Allan
Kardec),
by Simoni
Privato
Goidanich3,
and the
documentary
video "Spiritism
à la
française.
The collapse
of the
French
post-Kardec
Spiritist
movement" 4,
with several
interviewees.
There are
also digital
editions on
the site
Autores
Espiritas
Classicos,
with
translations
of French
publications
of the
nineteenth
century.
Based on
these works
one can
better
understand
the
difficulties
experienced
by the
followers
and the
widow of
Allan
Kardec,
after his
disincarnating
in 1869.
An important
contribution
was the
publication
of the
booklet Beaucoup
de Lumiere,
by Berthe
Fropo
(Paris,
1884) 5. It
went
unnoticed
until the
National
Library of
France
digitized it
and put it
within the
reach of
all.
Translated
as A lot
of light, it is
a precious
subsidy for
the better
understanding
of the
mishaps for
the
propagation
of Spiritism
after the
disincarnating
of the
Encoder.
Berthe Fropo
addresses
the crucial
point of
doctrinal
distortion
in the
post-Kardec
Spiritist
movement,
presenting
names of
those who
did not
faithfully
follow the
Encoder,
given in
letters and
figures,
since the
case was
involved in
a serious
"financial
issue". Her
book is a
kind of
dossier, a
public libel
against the
leaders of
Spiritism of
the time,
and an
appeal to
the "sincere
Spiritists"
to not
accept the
actions of
"unfaithful
confreres"
in the
author's
speech. The
author
emphasizes
Pierre-Gaëtan
Leymarie,
editor-in-chief
of the Spiritist
Magazine,
and also, in
practice,
the "head"
of the
Parisian
Society for
Spiritist
Studies,
although the
presidency
was formally
occupied by
Mr. Vautier,
who also
held the
position of
treasurer of
the
institution.
The appeal
of Fropo,
opposed to
Leymarie and
others,
pointing to
activities
of the most
harmful to
the ideals
of
Spiritism,
undermining
it by the
base,
culminates
in the
founding of
a new
institution,
the French
Spiritist
Union, and
the
newspaper Le
Spiritisme that
would
represent
the
"authentic
Doctrine of
the
Spirits".5
Gabriel
Delanne and
Berthe Fropo
respectively
assumed the
presidency
and
vice-presidency
of the
French
Spiritist
Union. There
was
encouragement
in messages
signed by
the spirit
Allan
Kardec,
obtained in
several
mediumistic
sessions
carried out
in the
residence of
the widow of
the Encoder,
in Villa
Segur. With
the
agreement of
Amelie
Boudet,
Gabriel
Delanne and
Berthe
Fropo, a
doctrinal
plan was
launched to
revitalize
the
dissemination
of the works
of Kardec,
which had
been
compromised
by Leymarie,
who acted
under the
influence of
other
thoughts
such as
Roustainguism
and more
intimately
the
Theosophy of
Madame
Blavatsky
and Colonel
Olcott.5
A timely
research, El
legado de
Allan Kardec (The
Legacy of
Allan
Kardec)by
Simoni
Privato
Goidanich
was edited
and released
by the
Argentine
Spiritist
Confederation
in Buenos
Aires in
2017. In
March 2018
the Union of
Spiritist
Societies of
the State of
Sao Paulo
launched the
Portuguese
edition of
the
aforementioned
work.3
Simoni
Privato
Goidanich
deals with
the
significant
moments of
the 10 years
after the
release of The
book of
Spirits;
the roles
played by
Leon Denis
and Gabriel
Delanne and
their
relationship
with Kardec;
the episodes
on the first
French
editions of
the Genesis;
and the
disincarnating
of the
Encoder. She
then
addresses
the legal
questions
about
Kardec's
name and
pseudonym;
the founding
of the
Anonymous
Society for
the
Continuation
of Spiritist
Works of
Allan
Kardec; she
comments on
the
so-called
"terrible
year"
(1872),
related to
the
launching of
the 5th
edition of The
Genesis designated
as "revised,
corrected
and
increased";
the
"Spiritist
process"
involving
Leymarie;
the
constraints
inflicted on
Amelie
Boudet and
her
disincarnating;
the burning
of files and
documents of
the widow of
Kardec; the
warning of
Kardec's
biographer,
Henri Sausse
- "An
infamy" -
pointing to
126 text
changes in
the 5th
edition of
the Genesis;
the
calamitous
misrepresentations
executed by
Leymarie in
institutions
and in the Spiritist
Magazine;
the
struggles
and renewal
proposals of
Gabriel
Delanne and
Leon Denis
and the
foundation
of the
French
Spiritist
Union.
In the book
of Simoni,
the changes
of purpose
of the
Society for
the
Continuation
of Spiritist
Works by
Allan
Kardec,
later
transformed
by Leymarie
into a
Scientific
Society of
Spiritism,
were
evident, and
also in the
editorial
line of the Spiritist
Magazine:
"the pages
were
increasingly
occupied
with
articles on
Theosophy[...]
A link of
the
Theosophical
Society with
the Society
for
Psychological
Studies and
the Society
for the
Continuation
of the
Spiritist
Works of
Allan Kardec
was
established".3
In the
context of
misrepresentations
and
controversies,
the French
editions of
the Genesis,
from the 5th
edition of
1872 (the
one
"revised,
corrected
and
increased"),
were allowed
to be
translated
into various
countries,
by Leymarie
- as
editor-in-chief
and director
of the Revue
Spirite (1870-1901),
manager of
the Librairie
Spirite (1870-1979)
and
president of
the
Corporation
- including
Brazil,
first by
Joaquim
Carlos
Travassos in
1875, and
then Bezerra
de Menezes,
as President
of FEB
(Brazilian
Spiritist
Federation),
in 1897. On
the other
hand, Simoni
shows that
the Spanish
pioneer and
leader Jose
Maria
Fernandez
Colavida
translated
and
published
the second
edition of
the Genesis,
1868, in
Barcelona
(Spain),
remaining
faithful to
the edition
of Kardec.3
Simoni proves
that until
the
disincarnating
of Kardec
there were
four
editions of
the Genesis,
and that a
single copy
of this book
was
deposited
legally
during the
physical
existence of
Allan Kardec
in the
National
Library of
France.
Therefore,
the Encoder
did not
modify the
content of
the work. At
the time,
the Ministry
of the
Interior
supervised
the
publications,
as France
lived tense
political
moments
during the
reign of
Napoleon
III.3
(In the next
edition of
this
magazine the
final part
of this
article will
be
published,
focusing on
the arising
of the
French
Spiritist
Union.)
References:
1) Calsone, Adriano. Em
Nome de
Kardec (On
behalf of
Kardec). 1st
edition.
Atibaia,
Publisher
Vivaluz. 2015.
288p.
2) Figueiredo,
Paulo
Henrique. Revoluçao
Espirita: a
teoria
esquecida de
Allan
Kardec.(Spiritist
Revolution:
the
forgotten
theory of
Allan
Kardec). 1st
edition. Sao
Paulo:
Publisher
MAAT. 2016. 640
p.
3) Goidanich,
Simoni
Privato. O
legado de
Allan Kardec
(Allan
Kardec’s
legacy). 1st
edition. Sao
Paulo: USE.
2018. 446p.
4) Lopes,
Ery. Espiritismo
à francesa.
A derrocada
do movimento
espírita
francês
pós-Kardec
(French-style
Spiritism.
The collapse
of the
French
post-Kardec
Spiritist
Movement).
Video. Sao
Paulo:
Publisher
Luz
Espirita.
2018: link
5) Fropo,
Berthe.
Translation,
Ery & Miguez,
Rogerio. Muita
luz (A lot
of Light). Digital
Publisher
Autores
Espiritas
Clássicos,
2017: PDF
Antonio
Cesar Perri
de Carvalho
was
President of
FEB
(Brazilian
Spiritist
Federation)
and member
of the
Executive
Committee of
the
International
Spiritist
Council.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br