International Vegetarian Union (IVU)
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A History of Veganism
Comipiled by John Davis, IVU Manager and Historian, with help from members of the ivu-history email group


Except where stated these items are links to blogs on VegSource.com, listed in roughly chronological order - more to come as they are written...

  1. Were there Vegans in the Ancient World?
    - Vegan Views, issue 124 Spring 2012 - includes the above article and some commentary

  2. Medieval Mindsets – ‘vegans’ in the middle ages

  3. Veganism from 1806 - a brief timeline summary of everything below.

  4. Dr. William Lambe - father of vegan nutrition, and his vegan biographer - the first vegan doctor, his books from 1809, and the 1873 'Life' by Mr. E. Hare.

  5. Dr. Lambe's Rural Roots - his childhood and retirement in Herefordshire.

  6. Prototype Vegans
    - Dr. William Lamb, John Frank Newton, Shelley - to Alcott House, Fruitlands and the first Vegetarian Society (PDF - article from The Vegan, Winter 2010, on the Vegan Society website)

  7. John Frank Newton - and the 'vegan' commune of 1813

  8. Shelley - the first celebrity vegan
    - Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and Dr. Frankenstein's monster.

  9. Lewis Gompertz – Jewish ‘vegan’ and co-founder of the RSPCA in 1824
    - an early version of animal rights and veganism

  10. Sylvester Graham - the original American Vegan Baker

  11. Taking the Waters – transatlantic pioneer plant-food doctors
    - Dr. William Lambe, Sylvester Graham, William Horsell, Dr. Russell Trall, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Dr. Elmer Lee - includes the first known 'vegan' cookbooks from 1874 and 1910.

  12. The vegan school that invented vegetarians
    - the story behind Alcott House

  13. Vegetarian equals Vegan!
    - how the first vegans invented vegetarianism - Alcott House, Fruitlands, the word 'vegetarian' and the first Vegetarian Society

  14. Extracts from some journals 1842-48 - the earliest known uses of the word 'vegetarian' - (ivu.org web pages) the full and very detailed research showing how the first vegetarians were, in every respect, what we now call vegan.

  15. Bronson Alcott - American pioneer vegan
    - ethical veganism, Fruitlands, Louisa May, and the search for others.

  16. Henry David Thoreau and the Roots of Plantism
    - steps towards vegan self-sufficient environmentalism - and a non-violent lifestyle - Henry Salt, Gandhi, Shelley, and books that changed veg history

  17. Dr. John Snow - a vegan of genius
    - In a poll of British doctors in 2003 John Snow was voted as the greatest physician of all time. Though probably few of them would have known he was what we now call vegan. Shows how Lambe and
    Newton were a major influence.

  18. The Truth Tester 1846-48 - a vegan journal
    - edited by William Horsell, vegan recipes, the launching of the Vegetarian Society.

  19. The Curious Affair of The Vegetarian Advocate (1848-50)
    - Horsell's re-named journal, the first three years of the Vegetarian Society, run by a vegan secretary in London, and the compromises which eventually ended.

  20. London Vegetarian Association, 1850s - the world's first 'vegan society'
    - the lauch of the Vegetarian Messenger, and conflict between Horsell and James Simpson, Vegetarian Society President.

  21. Prof. Francis W. Newman and the attempted 'vegan' revolution of 1871

  22. The First Vegan Cookbook - New York 1874 - by Russell Trall M.D.

  23. Gustav Schlickeysen – 1875 German vegan, raw-foodist, fruitarian

  24. Was Vitamin B12 a problem for 19th century 'vegans'?

  25. The Vegetus Myth
    - an attempt to pretend that vegetarians were not really vegan

  26. Henry Salt - the father of animal rights
    - author of Animals' Rights in 1894

  27. No Animal Food: The Road to Veganism in Britain, 1909-1944
    - (PDF 588k on ivu.org) by Leah Leneman 1999
    - No Animal Food - (PDF 414k on ivu.org) by Rupert Wheldon, 1910. The first British 'vegan' cookbook which gave its name to the essay above. First published in England, link to the American edition
    - Dr. Lee Pleads for better foods (New York Times, November 1910, PDF 127k) - a plea for 'vegan' diet from the MD quoted in the above book.

  28. Gandhi - and the launching of veganism
    - Gandhi in 1931, with Henry Salt by his side, on The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism

  29. Wartime Britain - the Vegetarian and Vegan
    - (originally from Vegan Views, 1998 - ivu.org) food rationing, 'vegan' recipes, and the circumstances up to the time of the formation of the Vegan Society in 1944

  30. The Invention of the Vegans
    - the word 'vegan', the first Vegan Society and the development of the movement

  31. The Vegan Society and IVU
    - (on ivu.org) collection of articles from 1944

  32. Vegans are Vegetarians too
    - early years of the Vegan Society

  33. Vegan Goes Global - the first ten years, 1944-54

  34. Hygiene cleans up - naturally of course
    - the American veg health movement

  35. How the Vegans landed in America

  36. The Veganizing of International Veg Events
    - International Vegan Festivals (on ivu.org) complete history from 1981
    Regions with histories:
  37. Learning from the developing world
  38. Go Veg - and see the World!
  39. Veg*ism in India
  40. Veg*ism in Africa
  41. Veg*ism in China
  42. Veg*ism in the Middle East
  43. Latin America leads the Veg World
  44. The Vegfest Phenomena

    IVU with histories:
  45. IVU Vegfest/Congress - coming near you soon . . – IVU from 1908
  46. The Beatles and IVU – from 1957
  47. IVU and the NAVS Summerfest – from 1973
  48. IVU and the American Animals Rights Movement – from 1975
  49. IVU and Vegsource - together at last! – from 1998
  50. IVU and the Venerable History of Vegetarianism [Videos]
    - three interviews with John Davis on SMTV, covering much of the vegan history above
    World View
  51. Food as Art in China
  52. From England to California – 2010
  53. Jakarta Jamboree – Indonesia 2010
  54. Meet Sundara - our man down under – Australia 2010
  55. The last leg - Malaysia to India and home – Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore 2010
  56. To Nairobi and Dubai - 2010
  57. The Global Veg Explosion - 2010
  58. Festival Vegano Español – Spain 2011
  59. The First Ever Veg Congress in China
  60. The China Congress - with pictures
  61. The Year of the Veg - 2011
    Local Activism
  62. Throwing the lion to the Christians
  63. Living on the Front Line
  64. National Veg Week - does your nation have one? – vegetarian going vegan
  65. Vegan Wolves – free public vegan barbecue in Wolverhampton
  66. Vegan Café 4 the Day - could your group do this?
  67. The Big Veg Weekend
  68. Cruelty Free Christmas - an idea for Christians?
    Directions
  69. Divided by a common language
    - what are vegetarians and vegans?
  70. Are you a positive or a negative veg*n?
  71. Vegetarianism Re-Defined
  72. Flexitarian and Plantatarian - 21st century dimensions
    - the rise of veganism, especially in America, dietary and ethical
  73. The Plant-food Two-step Shuffle - and Pure Vegetarians
  74. Will there ever be more veg*ns?
  75. Why some restaurants don't do vegan food - and why they should
  76. The Future of the Movement?
    - further rise in veganism, but will societies survive...?

  77. World Veganism - past, present and future - a PDF compilation of the blogs by John Davis (170 A4 pages, 5.5mb, updated April 18, 2012)