Dreamers and planners. That is what Prévoyants de l’Avenir means. We are standing on Rue des Prévoyants de l’Avenir. This street’s name honors a mutual aid society.
Rue des Prévoyants de l’Avenir emerged in the late 1920s in Lyon’s 3rd arrondissement. It is near Rue Bara. The street’s name comes from a society for mutual aid. This society was called Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir.
Let’s step back in time. Imagine Lyon in the late 19th century. A group of workers is planning for their future. They form a civil society for retirement. This was on December 12, 1880. The government authorized it on February 23, 1881.
This group was “Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir”. Its goal was simple. It would give its members a small annual pension after twenty years.
To join Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir you needed to be at least fifteen years old. You also needed to have a reputation for honesty. Admission cost two francs. Members paid one franc per month. Payments were due on the first Sunday of each month. Everyone paid the same amount. Therefore all had equal rights to the society’s benefits.
Monthly contributions formed a capital. After twenty years members shared the capital’s interest. The capital only grew. No withdrawals were ever made from it. Pensions came only from the interest earned. For the first twenty years the capital grew. This was through contributions and compound interest. No distributions were made during this time.
Even after twenty years the capital continued to grow. Members receiving pensions kept paying dues. New members also added to the fund. The pension amount did not necessarily increase. The number of participants sharing the interest also grew.
Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir had two clear advantages over private insurance companies. First subscriber security was absolute. All funds were deposited in a savings bank. The bank converted them into government bonds. There were no surprises.
Second the pension was higher than those from insurance companies. Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir eliminated parasitic expenses. Each section managed itself for free. This was due to the division of labor. It was also due to the goodwill of the members. Insurance companies had huge administrative costs. They also had to pay dividends to shareholders. This money came from retirement funds. Les Prévoyants de l’Avenir had no shareholders. The participants themselves formed the capital. All capital interest went to the participants.
The cooperative spirit is strong here. Rue des Prévoyants de l’Avenir is an impasse. It opens south from 5 rue Bara. A gate closes the back wall. The street serves two rows of similar one-story houses. Each house seems to be shared by two families.
The Prévoyants de l’Avenir inspired this cooperative. It was linked to the Vulliod Ancel dyeing factory. The association led the construction. The street was supposed to connect to rue Montbrillant.
The street alignments were set by prefectural decree in 1931. Mayor Edouard Herriot inaugurated it in person.
In conclusion Rue des Prévoyants de l’Avenir reminds us of Lyon’s cooperative history. It shows how workers sought to build a better future together. This street stands as a monument to their foresight.