IGe Birah—Wikipédia

Eugène Biraud was a local figure of the Charente-Maritime creator of the first cooperative dairy in France and initiator of the cooperative dairy movement in France.

Genesis of the dairy cooperative movement [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Considered the ” father of dairy cooperation » ^{[ first ]} , this farmer was born on July 3, 1825 In the town of Saint-Georges-du-Bois, more precisely in the village of Chaillé, four kilometers north of Surgères. His role in the new dairy economy he incidentally aroused is considerable, although it is today practically unknown to the general public.

He is the one who has “Revolutionized Aunis agriculture” , then from the Poitou-Charentes and Vendée region, by the implementation of the dairy cooperation system of which he had intuition by drawing inspiration from the example of the fruit trees of the Jura or, according to other historians , from the local example of breading companies that existed in Aunis, in particular the cooperative bakery of Surgères created in 1867 ^{[ 2 ]} . This agricultural retraining to dairy farming is due to the disastrous consequences of the phylloxera crisis which struck the Aunis vineyard from 1876 and ruined many peasants with small wine farms.

Despite some resistances not devoid of taunts and a certain ambient skepticism, Eugène Biraud has convinced twelve other peasants of Chaillé and the surroundings of Surgères to set up the dairy cooperative ^{[ 3 ]} . This is how the January 13, 1888 The very first Laitière cooperative in France was created ^{[ 4 ]} . Each member of the new dairy proceeded, in turn, to the skimming of milk, the barattage of the cream and the mixing after having contributed a certain sum at the start to launch the dairy cooperative of Chaillé.

A year later, the Chaillé cooperative brings together 162 members ^{[ 5 ]} . Success is such that it triggers the movement of dairy cooperation in Aunis which can ” To be called, rightly, the dairy revolution of the Charentes » ^{[ 6 ]} . He was established in 1889 in the municipalities of the canton of Surgères and in some neighboring municipalities including Migré. In 1900, 98 cooperative dairies were active in Poitou-Charentes and Vendée ^{[ 7 ]} And Surgères therefore becomes the cradle of dairy cooperation. So, ” The success of Charentes butter »Large rest on the intuition of Eugène Biraud, her peasant common sense and her spirit of solidarity ^{[ 8 ]} . In addition, this great success in the agricultural and rural environment of the Aunis ” Explained by an open peasant mentality – the first cooperators, including Eugène Biraud, are large modernist breeders – » ^{[ 9 ]} . This success is also based on the price of milk which is clearly more advantageous to cooperators than that paid for private dairy ^{[ ten ]} .

Distinctions [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Eugène Biraud became the general administrator of the Chaillé cooperative dairy of which he planned his enlargement. But he could not attend his extension which took place in an old distillery of Saint-Georges-du Bois en mars 1918 . In 1894, Eugène Biraud and the cooperative dairy of Chaillé ” receive a gold medal from the commission of honor bonuses, and staff, silver and bronze medals » ^{[ 11 ]} .

He had the honors of the municipality of Surgères by becoming city councilor of the city ^{[ 4 ]} .

He died the December 30, 1908 . The City of Surgères dedicated the name of a street to him-replacing the old rue de Marans-and a bust in its effigy, initially established in 1932 on Place Victor-Hugo-Current Place de l’Europe ^{[ 3 ]} , was drawn up on the gendarmerie roundabout in 1976. Likewise, the town of Saint-Georges-du-Bois, where he was born, dedicated a street name to him.

Bibliographic orientation [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Books (in alphabetical order of the authors)

• Agnès Claverie, The life of yesteryear in Charente-Maritime , Sud-Ouest editions, Luçon, 1999, (in p. 43 ).
• Jean-Luc Flohic (collective work under the direction of), Heritage of the municipalities of Charente-Maritime , Flohic editions, 2002, volume II, (in p. 1093 ).
• François Julien-Labruyère, Charentes Alambic , Éditions Le Croit Vive, Colluctions Documentaires, 1989, (in p. 234 And p. 301 ). (ISBN  2907967002 )
• François Julien-Labruyère, Charentais peasants , Rupella editions, La Rochelle, 1982, volume I: “Rural economy”, (Des p. 422 To p. 424 ). (ISBN  2864740060 )
• Jean Soumagne (collective work with the participation of), Charente-Maritime today: Middle, economy, development , Publications of the French -speaking University of Eté, 1987, (in p.86).
• Surgee (Collective work under the aegis of the municipality of Surgères with the assistance of Jacques Duguet), Tourist Office of Surgères éditeur, 1993, (in p.87 and p.107).

In the local press

• Local weekly article Charente-Maritime’s weekly entitled ” The founders of the milk Empire »By Bernard Maingot, dated November 30, 2006 .

Related articles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

External link [ modifier | Modifier and code ]