Simon Bruté

Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur (March 20, 1779 – June 26, 1839) was a French missionary in the United States and the first bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. President John Quincy Adams called Bruté “the most learned man of his day in America.”

Early life and education in France

Bruté was born on March 20, 1779, at Rennes, France. His father Simon-Guillaume-Gabriel Bruté de Remur served as Superintendent of the Royal Domains in Brittany. During the French Revolution, young Bruté helped his mother operate a print shop, learning to composite type and set pages. Despite his mother's efforts to shield him from the Reign of Terror and other horrors, the aristocratic youth still witnessed many disturbing scenes, including the trials and executions of priests and nobles.

Bruté began studying medicine in 1796 and graduated in 1803, though he never practiced medicine. Instead, after graduation, he entered the reopened seminary of Saint Sulpice in Paris in November 1803. Ordained a priest in 1808, Fr. Bruté refused the post of chaplain to Napoleon I, but instead joined the Society of Saint-Sulpice, and taught theology in the diocesan seminary at Rennes from 1808 through 1810.