Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, known to the Spiritist movement as Allan Kardec, was born in Lyon, France, on October 3, 1804.
His parents were Jean Baptiste Antoine Rivail and Jeanne Louise Duhamel. At a young age, Kardec revealed a brilliant intelligence, leaning towards science and philosophical subjects.
He was a student of Pestalozzi at the Yverdon Institute (Switzerland), one of the most renowned schools of the time. Surrounded by colleagues as brilliant as himself, in his moments of rest, the future Codifier of Spiritism, at the age of 14, taught what he learned to his less advanced colleagues.
Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, known to the Spiritist movement as Allan Kardec, was born in Lyon, France, on October 3, 1804.
His parents were Jean Baptiste Antoine Rivail and Jeanne Louise Duhamel. At a young age, Kardec revealed a brilliant intelligence, leaning towards science and philosophical subjects.
He was a student of Pestalozzi at the Yverdon Institute (Switzerland), one of the most renowned schools of the time. Surrounded by colleagues as brilliant as himself, in his moments of rest, the future Codifier of Spiritism, at the age of 14, taught what he learned to his less advanced colleagues.
This particular attention to educational problems caught Pestalozzi's attention, which earned him sympathy and admiration. He earned several diplomas and became a member of several Societies and Institutes during his career as a teacher and school principal. His pedagogical approach made him an extremely erudite researcher.
He lived in a time when studies were taking on an empirical nature. This educational legacy was essential for the future work of Codification to be carried out, especially in his time. Professor Rivail gained unusual notoriety, being the holder of the following honors:
- Diploma of founder of the Provident Society for Directors of Schools and Boarding Schools of Paris (1829).
- Diploma of the Society for Elementary Instruction (1847). General Secretary: H. Carnot.
- Diploma of the Language Institute, founded in 1873. President: Count Le Peletier- Jaunay.
- Diploma of the Society of Natural Sciences of France (1835). President: Geoffrey de Saint-Hilaire.
- Diploma from the National Education Society, made up of directors of schools and boarding schools in France.
- Diploma of the Grammatical Society, founded in Paris in 1807 by Urbain Domergue (1829).
- Diploma of the Society of Emulation and Agriculture of the Department of Ain (1828). Rivail had been appointed to exhibit and present Pestalozzi's method in France.
- Diploma of the Historical Institute, founded on December 24, 1833 and organized on April 6, 1834. President: Michaud, member of the French Academy.
- Diploma of the French Society of Universal Statistics, founded in Paris on November 22, 1820, by César Moreau.
- Diploma from the National Industry Incentive Society, founded by Jomard, member of the Institute.
- Diploma from the Royal Academy of Sciences of Arrás.
Numerous biographical texts state that Kardec was a doctor, but we believe that this misconception was caused by his humanist training. In fact, there are no official records that guarantee that he studied medicine.
Kardec and Spiritism
A man of empirical and rational spirit, a prevailing thought of his time, Rivail, upon coming into contact with spiritual phenomena for the first time, sought to observe their logical characteristics. It could not be otherwise when a friend, Mr. Fortier, revealed to him that, in a certain house, the tables were not only rotating, but also talking. Rivail's first reaction was to confirm the veracity of the fact. He was a profound connoisseur of Magnetism and, like other observers and magnetists, believed that the phenomena were merely the manipulation of magnetic fluid.
When faced with the facts, the insightful professor soon observed seriously what many used as a pastime. As a result of his arduous research and in-depth study, this extraordinary researcher concluded that the intelligent cause behind these phenomena was the spirits of those who had already departed, thus deducing the laws that govern these phenomena. From there, he brought an entire body of doctrine, explained in the Spiritist Philosophy, full of superior knowledge, hope and consolation.
With this perception, Rivail, the future Allan Kardec, began to attend countless meetings, asking systematic questions about various problems, to which the Spirits responded with “precision, depth and logic”. At Mr. Roustan’s house, on April 30, 1856, the medium Japhet transmitted to him the first positive revelation of the mission he would have to perform. Kardec humbly received a page from the Spirit of Truth that confirmed his doubts about having been chosen for such a grand mission. “I confirm what was said, but I recommend discretion if you want to do well. Later you will learn about things that can make you successful, as well as things that can make you fail. In the latter case, someone else would replace you, because God’s plans do not rest on the head of one man.”
The work continued and on April 18, 1857, The Spirits' Book was finally released, containing the basis for the Spiritist Doctrine, the Moral Laws, Hopes and Consolations.
The emergence of Allan Kardec
“When it was time to publish it,” says Henri Sausse, Kardec’s biographer, “the author was very embarrassed to decide how he would sign, whether with his own name – Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, or with a pseudonym. Since his name was well known in the scientific world, due to his previous works, and since it could give rise to misunderstandings, perhaps even jeopardize the success of the enterprise, he decided to sign with the name Allan Kardec, a name that, according to what a spirit had revealed to him, he had had during the time of the Druids.” To better clarify the internet user, Rivail in past incarnations had been a Druid priest named Allan Kardec – also see studies on the subject in the work Allan Kardec, the reincarnated druid, by Eduardo de Carvalho Monteiro, published by EME.
After the release of The Spirits' Book (1857) others followed:
Practical Instructions on Spiritist Manifestations – What is Spiritism – Letter on Spiritism – The Mediums’ Book (1861) – Spiritism in its simplest expression – Spiritist Journey in 1862 – Response to the message of the Spirits of Lyon on the occasion of the New Year – Summary of the Law of Spiritist Phenomena, or First Initiation – Imitation of the Gospel According to Spiritism, from which The Gospel According to Spiritism (1864) – Collection of unpublished compositions extracted from The Gospel According to Spiritism – Genesis (1868) – Heaven and Hell (1865) – Collection of Spiritist Prayers – Study on mediumistic poetry – Characteristics of the Spiritist Revelation – Posthumous Works (1890) – Spiritist Magazine.
In his final years, Kardec became a universal man – according to Mr. André Moreil (La Vie et l´Oeuvre d´Allan Kardec, Paris, 1961). While preparing to move house, on March 31, 1869, at the age of 65, he suffered an aneurysm that led to his death. At his burial, in the Montmartre Cemetery, among other speakers, the astronomer Camille Flammarion highlighted Allan Kardec's contribution to the scientific and philosophical world. Today, Kardec's mortal remains can be found in the center of the Druid monument in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.