Renan Larue | |
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 Larue in 2013 | |
| Born | Côtes-d'Armor, France |
| Education |
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| Occupation(s) | Historian, professor, writer |
| Known for | Creating the firstvegan studies course in the United States |
| Notable work | Le végétarisme et ses ennemis (2015) |
| Awards |
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Renan Larue is a French writer, literary scholar and historian ofvegetarianism. He is the author of several books on vegetarianism orveganism, includingLe végétarisme et ses ennemis (2015), ahistory of vegetarianism fromPythagoras until the modern day, andLa pensée végane: 50 regards sur la condition animale (2020). In 2016 he offered the first course invegan studies in the United States at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Born in theCôtes-d'Armor,[2] Larue studied French literature at theParis-Sorbonne University, graduating in 2000 with aBA. He went on to obtain threemaster's degrees: in history from theSchool for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris in 2002, in philosophy from theUniversity of Paris I in 2003, and in classical literature from theUniversity of Strasbourg in 2006. In 2007, he received anAgrégation de lettres modernes.[1]
Larue was awarded aPhD in French literature in 2011 by theUniversity of Picardy Jules Verne.[1] His PhD dissertation focused on the history of vegetarianism in the West and formed the basis of his first book,Le végétarisme et ses ennemis.[3]
Larue is an assistant professor of French literature at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.[1] In 2016 he offered a course in vegan studies, the first course of its kind in the United States.[4][5][6] As of 2021 he ran the Vegan Studies program at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.[7]
InLe végétarisme et ses ennemis (2015), Larue reviews the history of vegetarianism in the West, focusing on the historical figures who defended it, includingPythagoras,Porphyry andPlutarch. He describes the attitudes of the major monotheistic religions towards the ideas conveyed by vegetarians, with particular emphasis on the hostility of the Catholic Church. He then turns to theAge of Enlightenment, whereVoltaire played a leading role in the defense of vegetarianism, alongsideJean-Jacques Rousseau,Nicolas de Condorcet,Maupertuis,Bernardin de Saint-Pierre andMorelly. The book ends in the 20th century, with the story of the birth ofveganism through theVegan Society co-founded byDonald Watson,Elsie Shrigley and others.[8][9]
InLe véganisme (2017), co-authored with Valéry Giroux, Larue, himself vegan, defends veganism as a philosophy and way of life, understood as a social and political movement based on a commitment to, as far as practically possible, avoid the subjugation, mistreatment and killing of sentient beings.[10] InLe Végétarisme des Lumières (2019), he examines the medical and philosophical debates around vegetarianism that took place in 18th-century France.[11] He also authored the preface toLa révolution antispéciste ("The antispeciesist revolution"), a selection of twelve texts from the journalCahiers antispécistes ("Antispeciesist notebooks").[12]
Larue received the Best PhD Dissertation Award from the University of Picardy Jules Verne in 2011.[1] In 2016, theAcadémie Française awarded him the Prix La Bruyère silver medal for his bookLe végétarisme et ses ennemis.[13]
