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Title: Aristide Rieffel papers
Date (inclusive): 1888-1941
Collection Number: 76065
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In French and English
Physical Description:
46 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(19.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, pamphlets, clippings, and photographs, relating primarily to the temperance movement in France and
the United States, pacifism, international arbitration, the Society for Arbitration between Nations, Alfred Nobel and the
Nobel Peace Prize.
Creator:
Rieffel, Aristide, 1859-1941
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1976.
[Identification of item], Aristide Rieffel papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1859 | Born as Arthur Zacharin Rieffel in Paris, France |
| 1890s | Participates in the international pacifist movement as a member of the Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations |
| ca. 1915 | Emigrates to the United States, living first in New York and then in Santa Barbara |
| 1941 | Died |
The Aristide Rieffel papers in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives consist primarily of published and unpublished notes
and writings, including a significant number of articles written for French language newspapers in the United States, the
country in which Rieffel spent the latter part of his life. Most of these writings pertain to Rieffel's vision of a moral
crusade to reform modern society, which he saw as being prone to violence and corrupted by pervasive alcoholism. The abolition
of warfare and the prohibition of alcohol consumption were the causes to which Rieffel devoted most of his life.
While never a strict pacifist, Rieffel associated himself with efforts to eliminate warfare through diplomacy and arbitration,
and this activity drew him into contact with Alfred Nobel, Frédéric Passy, Charles Richet, Bertha von Suttner, and other peace
advocates in Europe. For Rieffel, the attainment of world peace was predicated on a change in educational practices in order
to eliminate what he perceived to be the "bellicose instinct" in humanity. This, in turn, was linked by Rieffel to the goal
of eradicating alcoholism, which he saw as being at the root of virtually all societal problems.
In many respects, Rieffel was at odds with the idea of mass democracy. Instead, he favored the rule of an educated elite of
"savants," in whose number Rieffel clearly included himself. Throughout his writing career, Rieffel argued in favor of what
he called the "vote familial," or family vote, an electoral system in which votes would be weighted according to family size,
with parents voting on behalf of their children. According to Rieffel, such a system would provide a "moderating" influence
on society, which otherwise tended toward extremism.
In addition to numerous writings on politics, society, and religion, the collection contains examples of Rieffel's correspondence
with Nobel, Passy, and von Suttner, as well as with prominent figures in the temperance movements in the United States and
France, including Maurice Legrain and Mary Frances Stoddard.
The Aristide Rieffel collection in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives was acquired in 1976, with increments added in
1978 and 1983. The remainder of Rieffel's papers can be found in the holdings of the University of California at Santa Barbara,
and an inventory for the Santa Barbara collection can be consulted in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Peace
Journalists
Pacifism
United States -- Social conditions
Temperance
Arbitration (International law)
France -- Social conditions
Nobel Prizes
Nobel, Alfred Bernhard, 1833-1896
Society for Arbitration between Nations