Despite its political failure under the Third Republic, eugenics in France experienced early and thorough theoretical development. This medical eugenics ideology advocated for the formation of a human elite under the guidance of the French state as early as the late 18th century. Subsequent awareness of the theories of British anthropologist and statistician Francis Galton, the first theorist of eugenics, led to the creation of the French Society of Eugenics in 1913.
Despite the numerous calls from French eugenics theorists for interventionist measures that persisted until the first half of the 20th century, this ideology exerted a negligible influence on French citizens, in contrast to its impact on those in Anglo-Saxon countries and the Third Reich. France's adoption of a single law inspired by eugenics was limited to the establishment of a mandatory prenuptial certificate under the Vichy regime. The reasons for this failure are numerous and are particularly linked to the influence of Catholicism, neo-Lamarckism, and depopulation resulting from wars.
The most prominent proponents of eugenics included Nobel Prize-winning physician Charles Richet, who served as president of the French Society of Eugenics and advocated for the elimination of disabled children, and Alexis Carrel, who directed the French Foundation for the Study of Human Problems during the Vichy regime. In the late 19th century, Paul Robin personified the neo-Malthusian branch of French eugenics. Pediatrician Adolphe Pinard developed an ambitious project for controlling reproduction, and military doctor Charles Binet-Sanglé proposed the creation of a "human stud farm." Notwithstanding the subsequent trial of Nazi doctors in Nuremberg for crimes against humanity, the eugenics ideology continued to be defended, albeit briefly, by biologist Jean Rostand during the 1950s. This defense was facilitated by a lack of awareness regarding the atrocities committed in the name of eugenics on German soil, which resulted in a paucity of official condemnations of these practices in France.
The advent of a novel form of eugenics in France, akin to that observed in other Western countries, has given rise to a series of ethical dilemmas concerning medical practices since the 1990s, particularly in the aftermath of the . Following the enactment of the inaugural bioethics legislation in 1994, France formally denounced all forms of collective eugenic selection as "crimes against the human species." Nevertheless, the nation permits the practice of individual choice of births. The discourse surrounding eugenics has been reinvigorated by inquiries concerning medical practices such as prenatal diagnosis (PND), preimplantation diagnosis (PGD), and selective abortion, formally recognized as medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) in French legislation, which is authorized at any stage in instances of suspected severe genetic diseases or disabilities. This has led to a discourse surrounding the ethical considerations of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a process that involves the screening of embryos for specific genetic abnormalities, and selective abortion, defined as the termination of a pregnancy to avoid giving birth to a child with a suspected or detected disability, such as Down syndrome or dwarfism. This has prompted extensive deliberations among medical professionals, ethicists, philosophers, association leaders, and political figures, leading to the refinement of bioethical legislation in France.
Sources and definition
In France, in particular, eugenics is a taboo subject, described as "shameful, long stigmatized after World War II," according to historian Anne Carol, and "anathematized in French historiography," according to historian Valentine Hoffbeck. This field of research was opened by Jacques Léonard, a historian specializing in medicine and health, who officially led a postgraduate program (D.E.A.) in 1984 dedicated to the origins of eugenics in France at the University of Rennes-II. It has only attracted the attention of historians—mostly French—since the 1990s. Previously, it was approached through the lens of political science.
, whose thesis focuses on French eugenics, highlights the difficulties posed by this subject, particularly in terms of anachronism (reinterpreting the past in light of knowledge about the Nazi genocide). According to her, this creates two major methodological pitfalls: “systematically denouncing the worst” and praising French eugenics because France did not experience ‘criminal excesses.’
The promotion of eugenics in French society was primarily carried out by doctors, leading it sometimes to be labeled as “medical eugenics.” Most defenders of historical eugenic ideology came from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris and, more rarely, from General Statistics. According to Anne Carol, the strong involvement of doctors in this movement represents a French specificity compared to the development of eugenics in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, where statisticians mainly drove its defense. At first glance, the association between "eugenics" and "medical" seems contradictory—the former referring to the physical elimination of individuals, and the latter to care, healing, ethics, and the duty of assistance.
International definitions of eugenics
The definition of eugenics proposed by its British theorist, Francis Galton, remains a subject of considerable debate. The concept encompasses any influence on "human selection," whether through genetic or environmental factors. Additionally, Galton's definition underwent a gradual evolution. In 1904, he characterized eugenics as "the science that deals with all influences that improve the innate qualities of a race." It is imperative to discern between the "positive" form of eugenics, which prioritizes the selection of "superior" individuals, and the "negative" form, which involves the physical removal of those deemed to be "dysgenic."
Terminology
A terminological challenge emerges when exploring the history of eugenics in France. The English word "eugenics," first translated into French in 1886, has been introduced to the French language in two forms, both channelled by the racist theorist Georges Vacher de Lapouge. The first, "eugénique," was used to denote individuals who exhibited above-average intellectual abilities, while the second, "eugénisme," was employed to describe the inverse phenomenon of degeneration.
Before 1914, the term eugénisme was seldom used in French. Initially, publications advocating human selection employed a variety of expressions or neologisms, including "human breeding," "viriculture," "hominiculture," "anthropogenetics," and "biocracy." Adolphe Pinard, in particular, preferred the term "puériculture," which he described as the pursuit of "knowledge related to reproduction, preservation, and improvement of the human species" over eugénique or eugénisme. Pediatricians could thus conceal their eugenic objectives. In his doctoral thesis in medicine, Dr. Louis Simon proposed the term eugénétique.
French eugenic ideological currents
According to the historian and sociologist Pierre-André Taguieff, eugenics is an inherently interventionist ideology that is state-based. The ideology of eugenics traditionally draws from the ideology of Thomas Malthus (Malthusianism), who believed that the poor were responsible for their plight because they reproduced despite lacking the material means to support themselves. Additionally, it draws from interpretations of Charles Darwin's theories, known as social Darwinism, which argue that only the strongest and best-adapted individuals survive. Eugenics theorist Francis Galton drew from both of these ideologies to assert that humanity's natural tendency to help the poor and "weak" must be counteracted to reduce the number of unfit individuals and increase those capable of improving the human species.
Pierre-André Taguieff identifies three distinct eugenic currents in France: a Darwinian, socialist, and Aryanist current championed by the racial anthropologist Georges Vacher de Lapouge; a natalist, Lamarckian, and patriotic current followed The first current, as identified by Taguieff, is a Darwinian, socialist, and Aryanist current championed by the racial anthropologist Georges Vacher de Lapouge. The second current is a natalist, Lamarckian, and patriotic current followed by hygienists, physicians (including pediatrician Adolphe Pinard), and educators, who opposed birth control. The third current is a neo-Malthusian, pacifist, and libertarian eugenics influenced by feminism and particularly promoted by educator Paul Robin.
Ethicist Gwen Terrenoire identifies five ideological currents: a medical current led by Adolphe Pinard, a racist current led by Vacher de Lapouge and later by Charles Richet, a neo-Malthusian current promoted by Paul Robin and continued by Édouard Toulouse, an interventionist current advocating sterilizations and marriage controls promoted by the during the 1930s, and a biocratic current led by Alexis Carrel.
Taguieff's observations reveal that certain currents within these movements were characterized by mutual exclusivity. In contrast to the predominantly Darwinian approach found in Anglo-Saxon eugenics, French ideology exhibited a stronger inclination towards Lamarckian principles. This neo-Lamarckism, which emerged as a response to the prevailing hereditary theories of the era, significantly influenced the development of French eugenics by emphasizing the concept of environmental degeneration and the role of social influences. This distinctive approach marked a notable distinction between French eugenics and other European movements within the same period.
Historian and sociologist Alain Drouard examined the neo-Malthusian eugenics current more closely, highlighting significant overlaps between neo-Malthusianism and negative eugenics, as well as continuity in the associative commitments of proponents of both ideologies.
History France's implementation of eugenic principles within its legal framework was comparatively modest when evaluated against other nations. For instance, France did not adopt legislation authorizing voluntary or compulsory sterilization for mental disability or criminality, a practice that was prevalent in numerous Western countries. According to Taguieff, the adoption of eugenics in France might be perceived as a non-introduction, given its distinct historical and social context. The contrast with Britain and, more notably, the United States is particularly salient: France did not witness a comparable eugenics movement that influenced significantly its political policies. Historian of science offers a nuanced perspective on this observation, highlighting that despite the limited practical applications, the theoretical development of eugenic ideas in France was both early and highly sophisticated.
Origins of French eugenics before Francis Galton
According to , a distinct form of eugenics emerged in France that was distinct from Galton's thought. This eugenics addressed unrelated issues and emerged as a by-product of the evolution of medicine itself. The primary motivation behind this development was to combat "human degeneration" and regulate unions and procreation. Notwithstanding the absence of a specific term for this concept during this period, the late 19th century French medical literature advocated theories that could be classified as "incipient eugenics." William Max Nelson, a lecturer at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with historians Richard S. Fogarty and Michael A. Osborne from the University of California, opts to characterize this phenomenon as "proto-eugenics."