As Abbé Pierre’s sole legatee, Emmaus International is responsible for promoting its founder’s ideas and works, and for keeping alive and protecting his memory.
Successively a resistance worker, politician, global activist and pacifist, Abbé Pierre was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, who was committed to his work worldwide as far back as 1947. Abbé Pierre entrusted his and the Emmaus movement’s archives to the National World of Work Archives (ANMT) in France.
Emmaus International is continuing an inventory of the archives, which it began in 2001. It is also applying for them to be included on UNESCO’s ‘Memory of the World’ register to highlight Abbé Pierre’s outstanding international commitment.
The archives come in useful for books and exhibitions and for displays at the Abbé Pierre – Emmaus Centre in Esteville, France, which was set up in January 2012 as a place for people to learn about and remember Abbé Pierre.
Jean Rousseau,
Chair of Emmaus International from 2007 to 2016
“Abbé Pierre will go down in History because of his extraordinary life and, although he’s no longer with us, he left us two legacies. Emmaus, of course, which in 37 countries around the world, is continuing his action and is still growing... And his ideas, which are still just as relevant today as they ever were – poverty is by no means inevitable, when the ideals of fraternity, sharing and justice prevail. In a world torn apart by violence waged by the strongest, it’s up to us to initiate the necessary struggles and symbolise the living memory of Abbé Pierre."
