Daniel Legrand was a Swiss industrialist and philanthropist of the Reformed Church who spent most of his life in Alsace, France.
Background
Daniel Legrand was born at Basel on 28 November 1783. His father was Johann Lukas Legrand (or Jean-Luc Legrand, 1755–1836), president of Directory of the Helvetic Republic. He spent two years at the Reichenau institute in Graubünden, then studied mathematics at Neuchâtel before returning to Basel to help his father in his ribbon factory.
Career
He campaigned for laws that would improve the condition of child workers, and of industrial workers in general. His ideas contributed to the later development of international labor law. Daniel Legrand was given a sound, moral education based on 18th century philosophical principles.
The factory was run on paternalist lines.
The workers were lodged in the factory. After being forced out of office, his father moved to Alsace, France and founded a ribbon factory.
Daniel helped with the business. In 1812 Daniel Legrand visited Ban de la Roche, where he met Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740–1826).
According to the Reverend Frederick Monod,
Among men who have had the privilege of knowing him, who does not preserve a lasting remembrance of that animated face, in which were depicted an affectionate kindness, an expansive charity, a Christian peace and joy—the work of the Holy Spirit—that nothing in the world seemed able to disturb? Legrand thought that a Christian who owned property should give half of his income to the service of God and the poor.
He provided good conditions to his workers, including housing and schools. He did not mechanize his factory, but let his employees work at home. He petitioned with some success for laws that would reduce the working hours of children in the factories.
This would avoid the corrupting influence of the factory on children, would strengthen family bonds and would provide long-term social benefits.
Legrand was active throughout his life in distributing copies of the Scriptures and religious tracts. Daniel Legrand died at home in Ban de la Roche on 16 March 1859.
Legrand and Robert Owen (1771–1853) of Wales, another industrialist, advocated creation of an international organization dedicated to reform of labor laws. They wanted to reverse the steady deterioration of conditions for industrial workers and remove the causes of social unrest.
Coordination of simultaneous labor law reform at the international level would avoid the issue of early reformers losing competitive advantage.
Eventually these ideas took fruit with the establishment of the International Labour Organization after World War I (1914-1918).
Membership
He became known for his frank piety and openness to members of different Christian sections