Alban de Villeneuve-Bargemon

The Viscount Alban de Villeneuve-Bargemont (August 8, 1784 – June 8, 1850) was a French economist and politician. A Catholic nobleman, he was among the first, alongside Armand de Melun, to denounce industrial exploitation and to introduce early social legislation.

He was a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques and a Commander of the Legion of Honour.

Biography Alban de Villeneuve-Bargemont came from one of the oldest noble families in Provence. He was the eighth of fourteen children of Joseph de Villeneuve, Lord of Bargemont, a prosecutor in Aix, and Sophie de Bausset de Roquefort. His brothers included Christophe de Villeneuve-Bargemont, Emmanuel-Ferdinand de Villeneuve-Bargemont, Joseph de Villeneuve-Bargemont, Jean-Baptiste de Villeneuve-Bargemont, and historian Louis-François de Villeneuve-Bargemont.

He was the nephew of Pierre-Ferdinand de Bausset-Roquefort, Archbishop of Aix, and the great-nephew of Barthélémy-Joseph de Villeneuve-Bargemont and Louis Jean Baptiste Le Clerc de Lassigny de Juigné, notable deputies of the Estates-General of 1789.

Administrator Villeneuve-Bargemont served as an auditor at the Council of State in 1810, sub-prefect of Zierikzee (1811), prefect of Bouches-de-l'Èbre (1812), and prefect of Sambre-et-Meuse (1814). During the Bourbon Restoration, he held several prefecture posts, including Tarn-et-Garonne, Charente, Creuse, Meurthe, Loire-Inférieure, and Nord. He was appointed Councillor of State in 1828 but as a Legitimist refused to the oath to Louis Philippe following the July Revolution of 1830. He re-entered politics in 1840, representing Lille until 1848, where he focused on social legislation. He was instrumental in introducing laws regulating child labor.

Contributions to Social Catholicism

Villeneuve-Bargemont is recognized for addressing the "social question" in France before Karl Marx. He criticized industrial capitalism for exploiting workers without moral or physical safeguards, from a Catholic perspective.

Publications His notable works include: Christian Political Economy (1834) History of Political Economy (1835–1837) Discourses on Child Labor Laws (1840) The Book of the Afflicted (1841) On the State of Political Economy in Spain (1844)

Personal life Villeneuve-Bargemont was married twice, to Mathilde Dubreil de Frégose (d. 1822) and Emma de Carbonnel de Canisy. He had five children, including Adrienne de Villeneuve-Bargemont, a lady-in-waiting to Empress Eugénie, and Elzéar de Villeneuve, a cavalry officer.

His papers are preserved at the National Archives of France.