Badaut, Samuel (1891–1927)
By Eudritch Jean
Eudritch Jean: Diploma in Electronic Engineering (Haitian State University), B.A. in Theology (Adventist University of Haiti), and M.T.S. (Friedensau Adventist University [FAU], Germany). Jean worked as an electronic engineer in Haiti for twelve years and shortly served as assistant pastor at the district of Bethanie in the Central Haiti Conference. Currently, he is working as volunteer for the Institute of Adventist Studies of FAU. He plans to pursue doctoral studies in ethics.
First Published: January 29, 2020
Samuel Badaut was a French Adventist minister and a departmental leader in the Latin Union Conference that included Algeria, Belgium, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.
Early Life
Samuel Badaut was the younger brother of Paul Badaut, who served as a pioneer missionary in Mauritius and president of the South France Conference. Samuel was born August 9, 1891, in Branges, Saône-et-Loire, France, to Jean-Pierre Badaut (1850-1933) and Marie-Claudine Petitjean (1859-1929).1 His birth came as a comfort to his parents who had been severely affected by the loss of three children suddenly swept away by diphtheria.2 He spent his early childhood in Branges. However, at a young age Badaut was acquainted with the unpleasant struggles associated with spreading the Adventist message. He accompanied his father, pioneer of the Adventist work in many places in France, on his evangelistic and canvassing tours, especially in Doubs.3 In 1905 he was baptized into the Adventist Church at the age of 14.4
Education and Early Career
Badaut received his secondary education in Valence, Drôme, France.5 Afterwards he went to Stanborough Park Missionary College in England in 1908.6 While there he earned his school fees by selling Adventist literature during the holidays, particularly during the summer.7 He also mastered the English language and later became a proficient translator. At the end of his study program, he worked for two years in England as a colporteur.8 On his return to France, before 1912, he worked as a Bible worker in the Latin Union Conference and assisted several evangelists in their missionary work in Paris.9
Military Service
During World War I, Badaut was drafted for military service. He refused to bear arms and spent much of the war years as an interpreter with the English Expeditionary Army. During his service, he was given a medal. Firmly resolved to keep the Sabbath day, he warned his superiors beforehand of his intention and obtained from them Sabbath privileges. This allowed him to be active in the Adventist church at Grenoble, in southeastern France, where he preached on a regular basis.10
Return to Ministry and Marriage
Badaut remained in military service until 1917. That year he made two important decisions. First, he returned to the service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and worked as an evangelist. Next, he married Madeleine Delahaye (1889-1989). They had three children: Edith Monnier-Badaut, Pierre Badaut, and Madeleine Simonin-Badaut.11
Career as Administrator and Pastor
For about three years Badaut worked as evangelist and colporteur in the French Conference. During the Latin Union Conference session held in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 1920, he was elected departmental director for Home Missions.12 He worked at the union level until 1925. Beginning in1924, he also served as departmental director for Missionary Volunteers (Adventist youth), and in the same year he was ordained to pastoral ministry.13
One year after his ordination, Badaut was called by the North France Conference to minister in Le Havre.14 While pastoring there, he worked in close collaboration with Dr. Jean Nussbaum, then medical department director for the Latin Union Conference, in order to have a stronger impact on the Adventist church in the area.15
Sudden Death
Badaut pastored the Adventist church at Le Havre for about 19 months. On August 15, 1927, he had an accident while riding home on his motorcycle after attending a spiritual meeting in the city. He tried to avoid a collision with a cyclist and suddenly applied his brakes, but, unfortunately, he fell forward over the handlebars and suffered a fractured skull. Thirty-six hours after the accident, without having regained consciousness, Badaut passed away at the age of 36.16
Samuel Badaut was an enthusiastic leader who worked for the Adventist Church for about two decades. He is considered one of the pioneers of Seventh-day Adventism in France.17 Despite a short life, he played a considerable role in the development of the Adventist Church in the country.
Sources
Archer, J. F. “At Rest: Badaut.” The Missionary Worker, September 9, 1927.
Armstrong, Worsley. “Miscellaneous.” The Missionary Worker, October 1916.
Badaut, Paul. “Samuel Badaut 1891-1927.” Revue Adventiste, September 1, 1927.
Badaut, Samuel. “Working for a Scholarship.” Union Conference Record, November 29, 1909.
“Canvassers’ Report for Four Weeks ending July 28, 1911.” The Missionary Worker, August 28, 1911.
Dufau, André. “In Memoriam: Madeleine Badaut-Delahaye, un témoin des débuts du Mouvement adventiste à Paris.” Revue Adventiste, November 1989.
Nussbaum, Dr Jean. “Samuel Badaut 1891-1927.” Revue Adventiste, September 1, 1927.
Olson, A. V. “Latin Europe.” ARH, May 26, 1921.
Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. 2 volumes, second revised edition. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996. S.v. “Badaut, Samuel.”
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1913.
Wilcox, Francis M. “Incidents of the European Travel … No. 9: The Latin Union Meeting.” ARH, August 12, 1920.
Notes
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See Paul Badaut, “Samuel Badaut 1891-1927,” Revue Adventiste, September 1, 1927, 9.↩
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Ibid.; Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), “Badaut, Samuel.”↩
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Paul Badaut, 9.↩
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André Dufau, “In Memoriam: Madeleine Badaut-Delahaye, un témoin des débuts du Mouvement adventiste à Paris,” Revue Adventiste, November 1989, 16.↩
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Paul Badaut, 9.↩
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Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Badaut, Samuel.”↩
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See Samuel Badaut, “Working for a Scholarship,” Union Conference Record, November 29, 1909, 5; Paul Badaut, 9; Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Badaut, Samuel.”↩
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J. F. Archer, “At Rest: Badaut,” The Missionary Worker, September 9, 1927, 7.↩
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Samuel Badaut probably returned to France at the end of 1911. According the canvassers’ reports published by The Missionary Worker, he was still active as a colporteur in England until July 28, 1911. See “Canvassers’ Report for Four Weeks ending July 28, 1911,” The Missionary Worker, August 28, 1911, 143. For his first assignment in France, see Paul Badaut, 9; “Latin Union District,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1913), 107.↩
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See Paul Badaut, 9; Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Badaut, Samuel”; Worsley Armstrong, “Miscellaneous,” The Missionary Worker, October 1916, 130.↩
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Dufau, 16.↩
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Francis M. Wilcox, “Incidents of the European Travel … No. 9: The Latin Union Meeting,” ARH, August 12, 1920, 16; A. V. Olson, “Latin Europe,” ARH, May 26, 1921, 16.↩
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Dufau, 16; Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (1996), s.v. “Badaut, Samuel.”↩
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Ibid.↩
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Dr Jean Nussbaum, “Samuel Badaut 1891-1927,” Revue Adventiste, September 1, 1927, 8; Dufau, 16.↩
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See Nussbaum, 8; Archer, 7.↩
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Dufau, 16.↩