“The Family” is a religious community, coming from only eight different families. Marriage between cousins is law.
There are 3,000 of them but only have eight different last names. They actually only marry between cousins. Named “La Famille”, this community lives in the heart of Paris, around rue de Montreuil, in the eleventh arrondissement and has also spread into the 12th and 20th arrondissements of the capital. This community was notably studied by Suzanne Privat in her book The Family: itinerary of a secret (editions Les Avrils), in spring 2021.
The history of endogamous marriages dates back to 1819 when, in a bistro on rue Saint-Maur, two friends, Jean-Pierre Thibout and François Havet, decided to marry their children. Ultimately, there were eight couples who gradually united to form “The Family”. Until 1892, the Christian-inspired community was still open to outside marriages, but, at the end of the 19th century, Augustin Thibout, one of the elders of “La Famille” demanded that their descendants close in on themselves, only accepting consanguineous unions. Marriage then took place young, around the twenties, and being a virgin was essential.
The members of “The Family” must also stay among themselves as much as possible. Opening up too much to the outside world is an act that can mark a form of banishment. Children can go to school, but must not get involved in social life (inviting friends, going on school outings, etc.). Adults can work, except in legal or health professions, because divine law prevails and God is the only master of bodies…
Strict rules are also imposed: women must not cut their hair or wear pants and red and white are prohibited in clothing, being associated with the devil and God respectively. Contraception and divorce are also prohibited.
Every first Saturday in January, the Family meets in a bistro to celebrate the creation of the community. Their beliefs are very specific: they descend from the Jansenist convulsionnaire, a religious movement born in the 18th century. They are convinced that the end of times will arrive and that they are God’s chosen ones, therefore believing that they must not “let themselves be contaminated by the people of the world”.
However, this endogamy causes specific diseases. Some members of “The Family” are affected by genetic conditions such as Bloom syndrome, which is characterized by pre- and post-natal growth retardation, including cranial deformity and narrow face and nose and ears. prominent. It can also cause early cancers.
Suzanne Privat explained to Actu.frthat “it happens that children die of cancer, or that entire siblings are decimated between the ages of 40 and 50, all as a result of cancer”. One family in the community, for example, has an average life expectancy of just 58 years. The writer cites other pathologies “over-represented” in the community such as “omphaloceles at birth, with the small intestine coming out of the abdomen, polydactyly with extra fingers, hemophilia which is hereditary or heart problems.
If “The Family” is monitored by the Intergovernmental Vigilance Mission against sectarian abuses, it is not classified as a sect, having neither guru nor proselytizing practices. Furthermore, French law does not prohibit marriages between cousins but only those with parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and half-siblings, uncles and aunts as well. as nephews and nieces.