COCHIN, PIERRE-SUZANNE-AUGUSTIN. - French Catholic writer, b. in Paris on 2 Dec. 1823, d. at Versailles on 13 March 1872.

A scholar of economic and social problems, he conducted exhaustive investigations into the phenomenon of pauperism in England and into the conditions of workers in France. In his political activity, he was mayor in 1853 of the 10th arrondissement of Paris. A friend and biographer of Montalembert, he was bound by assiduous and profound ties to Lacordaire. He was a member, from 1864, of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques. His personality as a scholar takes on particular prominence in his care to reconcile economic liberalism with the principles of Christian ethics. He also wrote against Renan's Life of Jesus in 1863. By C. were drafted the two letters, which Montalembert sent to Cavour bearing his signature, in the first of which the thesis of a "free Church in a free State" is formulated. Concerning the problem of the Italian Risorgimento, C. attempted to reconcile his sympathies for Italy and the rights of the Holy See.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: L. Lefebure, A. C. Son action sociale et religieuse, in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1903, pp. 274-310; G. Picot, Notice historique sur la vie et les travaux de M. A. C., in Stances et travaux de l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques, new series, 65 (1906, i), pp. 40-84; F. Laudet, A. C., in Revue hebdomadaire, 2nd year (1912, ii), pp. 171-97; H. Cochin, Un grand ami français des États-Unis d'Amérique: A. C., in Le Correspondant, new series, 232 (1917), pp. 630-59; C. Maréchal, Une doctrine de défense sociale. A. C., ibid., new series, 244 (1920), pp. 404-19; J. De Cognet, A. C. et les expériences chrétiennes, ibid., new series, 257 (1923), pp. 593-607; A. C. Ses lettres et sa vie. Avec introduction et notes par H. Cochin, 2 vols., Paris 1926.

His sons were: HENRY, b. in Paris on 31 January 1854, d. there on 9 Dec. 1926. He was a deputy in Parliament and a member of the Academy of Inscriptions.

His activity as a writer is significant, not only for his assiduous engagement with the classics of Italian literature, but also for the vigilant care with which he followed problems and questions concerning Catholic institutions. He wrote: Expulsion des Congrégations religieuses, récits et témoignages recueillis par M. M. Duparch et H. C. (Paris 1881); Discours sur l'Institut des Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes (Lille 1890); Boccace. Études italiennes (Paris 1890); S. François d'Assise d'après son dernier historien (ibid. 1895); Chronologie du « Cauvinière » de Pétrarque (ibid. 1897); Le bienheureux fra Angelico (ibid. 1906); Dante, Vita Nuova, trans. (ibid. 1908); Jubilés d'Italie (ibid. 1911).

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: H. Bédarida, Italianisti stranieri: H. C., in Leonardo, 3 (1927), pp. 311-13; P. Hazard, Le souvenir d'H. C., in Revue des deux mondes, 38 (1927), pp. 202-205.

DENYS, b. in Paris on 1 Sept. 1851, d. there on 24 March 1922. Several times a deputy in Parliament, he fought against the anticlericalism of the Combes ministry; an active diplomat, he took part in the negotiations between the French State and the Holy See. He was a member of the Académie from 1911. A scholar of philosophical problems, he adhered to an orthodox rationalism, in a polemical anti-Bergsonian vein.

He wrote: Les écoles chrétiennes devant l'intolérance laïque (Paris 1879); Mémoire adressée à M. Poubelle, préfet de la Seine, au sujet de la laïciation de l'hôpital C. (ibid. 1885); L'évolution et la vie (ibid. 1886); Le monde extérieur (ibid. 1895); L'esprit nouveau (ibid. 1900); Contre les barbares (ibid. 1905); Ententes et ruptures (ibid. 1905); Descartes (ibid. 1913)

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: L. Dufougeray, Le monde extérieur (de M. D. C.), in Le Correspondant, new series, 144 (1895), pp. 165-69; V. Boucaille, D. C., in Le Correspondant, new series, 252 (1922), pp. 15-32.

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Cochin, Pierre-Suzanne-Augustin

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