Firmin Marbeau

French philanthropist

Jean Firmin Marbeau (1798 – October 10, 1875) was a French philanthropist who pioneered the crèche movement, a forerunner of modern day care.

Marbeau was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, and was by profession a lawyer in Paris.^[1] He is best known for founding the first crèche, which opened in Paris on November 14, 1844.^[2] The crèche provided child care to enable working-class mothers to work jobs outside of the home, and spawned a Crèche Movement that led to a number of similar establishments being opened in France; the concept was also influential on the development of day care in North America.^[3] Marbeau wrote a number of books promoting the concept, and died in Saint-Cloud in 1875.^[1]

Writings

Politique des intérêts (1834)
Études sur l'économie sociale (1844)
Des crèches (1845)
Du paupérisme en France (1847)
De l'indigence et des secours (1850)

References

^ ^a ^b "Marbeau". Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (in German). Vol. 11 (4th ed.). 1890. p. 218.
^ U.K. Board of Education (2006). "The Development of Infant Schools and of Separate Nursery Schools from 1905 to the Present Time". In Rod Parker-Rees and Jenny Willan (ed.). Early Years Education: Major Themes in Education. Routledge. p. 94. ISBN 0-415-32669-9.
^ Larry Prochner (2000). "A History of Early Education and Child Care in Canada, 1820-1966". In Larry Prochner and Nina Howe (ed.). Early Childhood Care and Education in Canada. UBC Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-7748-0772-5.