Recently, there are works that rescued scenarios of Spiritism in France or, considering the context of the most disclosed literature in Brazil, in a way very institutionalized, we can say that many episodes are being rewritten based on facts and documents. Recent productions include: Em Nome de Kardec (On behalf of Kardec), by Adriano Calsone¹; Revolucao Espirita: a teoria esquecida de Allan Kardec,  (Spiritist Revolution: the forgotten theory of Allan Kardec),  by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo²; O Legado de Allan Kardec (The legacy of Allan Kardec), by Simoni Privato Goidanich³, and the documentary video "Spiritism à la française. The collapse of the French post-Kardec Spiritist movement" ⁴, with several interviewees. There are also digital editions on the site Autores Espiritas Classicos, with translations of French publications of the nineteenth century. Based on these works one can better understand the difficulties experienced by the followers and the widow of Allan Kardec, after his disincarnating in 1869.

An important contribution was the publication of the booklet Beaucoup de Lumiere, by Berthe Fropo (Paris, 1884) 5. It went unnoticed until the National Library of France digitized it and put it within the reach of all. Translated as A lot of light, it is a precious subsidy for the better understanding of the mishaps for the propagation of Spiritism after the disincarnating of the Encoder.

Berthe Fropo addresses the crucial point of doctrinal distortion in the post-Kardec Spiritist movement, presenting names of those who did not faithfully follow the Encoder, given in letters and figures, since the case was involved in a serious "financial issue". Her book is a kind of dossier, a public libel against the leaders of Spiritism of the time, and an appeal to the "sincere Spiritists" to not accept the actions of "unfaithful confreres" in the author's speech. The author emphasizes Pierre-Gaëtan Leymarie, editor-in-chief of the Spiritist Magazine, and also, in practice, the "head" of the Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies, although the presidency was formally occupied by Mr. Vautier, who also held the position of treasurer of the institution. The appeal of Fropo, opposed to Leymarie and others, pointing to activities of the most harmful to the ideals of Spiritism, undermining it by the base, culminates in the founding of a new institution, the French Spiritist Union, and the newspaper Le Spiritisme that would represent the "authentic Doctrine of the Spirits".⁵

Gabriel Delanne and Berthe Fropo respectively assumed the presidency and vice-presidency of the French Spiritist Union. There was encouragement in messages signed by the spirit Allan Kardec, obtained in several mediumistic sessions carried out in the residence of the widow of the Encoder, in Villa Segur. With the agreement of Amelie Boudet, Gabriel Delanne and Berthe Fropo, a doctrinal plan was launched to revitalize the dissemination of the works of Kardec, which had been compromised by Leymarie, who acted under the influence of other thoughts such as Roustainguism and more intimately the Theosophy of Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott.⁵

A timely research, El legado de Allan Kardec (The Legacy of Allan Kardec)by Simoni Privato Goidanich was edited and released by the Argentine Spiritist Confederation in Buenos Aires in 2017. In March 2018 the Union of Spiritist Societies of the State of Sao Paulo launched the Portuguese edition of the aforementioned work.³

Simoni Privato Goidanich deals with the significant moments of the 10 years after the release of The book of Spirits; the roles played by Leon Denis and Gabriel Delanne and their relationship with Kardec; the episodes on the first French editions of the Genesis; and the disincarnating of the Encoder. She then addresses the legal questions about Kardec's name and pseudonym; the founding of the Anonymous Society for the Continuation of Spiritist Works of Allan Kardec; she comments on the so-called "terrible year" (1872), related to the launching of the 5th edition of The Genesis designated as "revised, corrected and increased"; the "Spiritist process" involving Leymarie; the constraints inflicted on Amelie Boudet and her disincarnating; the burning of files and documents of the widow of Kardec; the warning of Kardec's biographer, Henri Sausse - "An infamy" - pointing to 126 text changes in the 5th edition of the Genesis; the calamitous misrepresentations executed by Leymarie in institutions and in the Spiritist Magazine; the struggles and renewal proposals of Gabriel Delanne and Leon Denis and the foundation of the French Spiritist Union.

In the book of Simoni, the changes of purpose of the Society for the Continuation of Spiritist Works by Allan Kardec, later transformed by Leymarie into a Scientific Society of Spiritism, were evident, and also in the editorial line of the Spiritist Magazine: "the pages were increasingly occupied with articles on Theosophy[...] A link of the Theosophical Society with the Society for Psychological Studies and the Society for the Continuation of the Spiritist Works of Allan Kardec was established".³

In the context of misrepresentations and controversies, the French editions of the Genesis, from the 5th edition of 1872 (the one "revised, corrected and increased"), were allowed to be translated into various countries, by Leymarie - as editor-in-chief and director of the Revue Spirite (1870-1901), manager of the Librairie Spirite (1870-1979) and president of the Corporation - including Brazil, first by Joaquim Carlos Travassos in 1875, and then Bezerra de Menezes, as President of FEB (Brazilian Spiritist Federation), in 1897. On the other hand, Simoni shows that the Spanish pioneer and leader Jose Maria Fernandez Colavida translated and published the second edition of the Genesis, 1868, in Barcelona (Spain), remaining faithful to the edition of Kardec.³

Simoni proves that until the disincarnating of Kardec there were four editions of the Genesis, and that a single copy of this book was deposited legally during the physical existence of Allan Kardec in the National Library of France. Therefore, the Encoder did not modify the content of the work. At the time, the Ministry of the Interior supervised the publications, as France lived tense political moments during the reign of Napoleon III.³

(In the next edition of this magazine the final part of this article will be published, focusing on the arising of the French Spiritist Union.)

References:

1)  Calsone, Adriano. Em Nome de Kardec (On behalf of Kardec). 1st edition. Atibaia, Publisher Vivaluz. 2015. 288p.

2)  Figueiredo, Paulo Henrique. Revoluçao Espirita: a teoria esquecida de Allan Kardec.(Spiritist Revolution: the forgotten theory of Allan Kardec). 1st edition. Sao Paulo: Publisher MAAT. 2016. 640 p.

3)  Goidanich, Simoni Privato. O legado de Allan Kardec (Allan Kardec’s legacy). 1st edition. Sao Paulo: USE. 2018. 446p.

4)  Lopes, Ery. Espiritismo à francesa. A derrocada do movimento espírita francês pós-Kardec (French-style Spiritism. The collapse of the French post-Kardec Spiritist Movement). Video. Sao Paulo: Publisher  Luz Espirita. 2018:  link

5)  Fropo, Berthe. Translation, Ery & Miguez, Rogerio. Muita luz (A lot of Light). Digital Publisher Autores Espiritas Clássicos, 2017: PDF

Antonio Cesar Perri de Carvalho was President of FEB (Brazilian Spiritist Federation) and member of the Executive Committee of the International Spiritist Council.

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br