ENFANTIN, on-f Barthelemy Prosper, French socialist of the Saint-Simon school: b. Paris, 8 Feb. 1796; d. there, 31 May 1864. He was the son of a Paris banker, and after studying for some years at the Ecole Polytechnique went into business. After trav eling extensively for a number of years he set tled in Paris in 1823. In 1825 he first met Saint-Simon (q.v.) and became strongly inter ested in his political and economic theories. After the July revolution of 1830 Enfantin associated himself with Bazard for the active propagation of Saint-Simonism. They became the supreme heads of the sect. Bazard ex pounded it in its relations to philosophy and politics; Enfantin mainly in its relations to the social state. They established a paper, called Globe, in which they propagated their views. Soon, however, a schism broke out between the two on the question of marriage and the relation of the sexes, for his views on which Enfantin was, in 1832, sentenced to one year's imprisonment and to pay a fine of 100 francs. This broke up a model community, which, together with 40 of his disciples, he had founded at Menilmontant after the break with Bazard and where he was known as "Le Being released from prison at the expiration of a few months he went to Egypt. He was sub
sequently appointed a member of the scientific commission for Algiers, and on his return from Africa published 'Colonization of Algeria' (Paris 1843). At this time he became again actively interested in business and in 1845 was made director of the Paris-Lyon Railway. After the revolution of 1848 he founded and edited the journal Le Credit, which stopped publication in 1850. He was then made admin istrator of the Lyon Railway, in which position he was quite successful and which he occupied until his death. His library of 1,018 volumes and 63 manuscripts he left to the Library of the Arsenal at Paris. His various writings, all on economic and political subjects, have been published together with those of Saint-Simon as 'Oeuvres de Saint-Simon et d'Enfantin) (47 vols., Paris 1865-78). Consult Howse, E. S., (Enfantin and Saint-Simon) (in Theological Review, Vol. IX, p. 50, London 1872).