It is December 22, 1902, in Hainaut. That day, a young man aged 16 addressed a request “to the citizen mayor and members of the Municipal Council of Frameries with a view to founding a popular university for the education of the masses. » The first of its kind had just been created, not far from there, in Marcinelle, by the socialist Jules Destrée. “What is our goal? writes the teenager: To divert the worker from the shameful relaxations which degrade him, to raise him above the despairing materialities of existence, by making him taste the pure joys of the soul, by leading him to enjoy the treasures imperishable which are the collective heritage. We want him to live. » The municipal authorities will respond to the request by making the municipal council room available to the spirited young man. He will not forget to thank “in the name of three hundred emancipated people who come to our young popular university to seek the good word of love, science and beauty, in the name of these brave workers, of these humble valiant people, and of these enlightened bourgeois who understand the scope of our effort”, he wrote, adding “It will therefore be proven that the public authorities are keen to hasten the redemption of the crowds, to grow them in the splendor of the Beauty and the Truth of the ‘Popular education…’ The young man in question is called Louis Piérard, he has a bright future… Guest: Jean Jauniaux, writer, honorary president of PEN Belgium, president of the Maurice Carême Foundation.
Swiss
