The Vegan Society was established in November 1, 1944 by Donald Watson and Elsie “Sally” Shrigley along with twenty-three (23) other members. The two were members of the Leicester Vegetarian Society of England who believed that true vegetarians should not be eating dairy products. They initially suggested forming a sub-group of non-dairy vegetarians but ended up establishing a separate organization when their proposal was rejected. Prior to this move, an expressed written concern was published in the said Vegetarian Society’s newsletter which questioned why vegetarians continue to consume dairy products.
The term vegan was derived from the word vegetarian using its first three letters and last two letters. Watson specifically chose this word believing that veganism is borne directly from vegetarianism which he sees will eventually find a logical conclusion in veganism itself. Vegan is pronounced with a long “e” and hard “g”, putting the stress on the first syllable.
Vegan initially represented non-dairy vegetarian but the society expanded its definition shortly after in 1951 to represent a doctrine of human life devoid of animal exploitation. Contained in the society’s first edition of The Vegan News was Watson’s proposal for the use of the word “vegan” and a proposed diet to be known as the vegan diet.
The very first Vegan Society in the US was established by Dr. Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz in 1948. By 1960 however, it was assimilated by the American Vegan Society established by H. Jay Dinshah. Dinshah incorporated the AHIMSA concept to the movement which is a Sanskrit word that basically means non-violence against living things. The word also served as the name of its magazine. All full members of the society do not merely conform to the vegan diet but also embrace the principle of excluding animal products in all other aspects such as clothing, toiletries, cosmetics, shoes, and household items.
The principle of excluding animal products for human use traces its origins to the time of Pythagoras, one of ancient Greece’s most famous philosopher and mathematician. He displayed specific empathy for animals and believes that they have souls. From Pythagorean, which meant the ethical abstinence from animal flesh and products, vegetarian came about to widen the scope of the abstention to include other reasons aside from the moral aspect particularly in relation to health. History refers to an unnamed group which was proposing avoidance of animal products in its entirety as early as 1851.
Since veganism directly relates to vegetarianism, the former cannot be categorized as a new thing. It is in a sense a direct evolution of a long-existing way of thinking. In a way, it only calls attention to the uncompromising form of vegetarianism.
World Vegan Day is celebrated every November 1st in honor of the founding of the very first Vegan Society. The very first celebration was held in 1994 and was established by the then President and Chair of the British Vegan Society – Louise Wallis. Several countries such as Italy, UK, Australia, China, Greece, and the US hold their respective celebrations during this day.
The creation of the Vegan Society was not intended to totally disaffiliate with the principles of vegetarianism. It was simply borne out of a conviction that there exists a group of people who believe that humans should stop consuming animal foods including eggs and dairy products. Its founders have made it clear that they respect the choices made by ovo and lacto-vegetarians who consume eggs and dairy products, respectively, but expect to be accorded the same respect if people like them desire not to. By the very first subtitle used by the Vegan Society Journal –“the journal of the non-dairy vegetarians”, it was clear from the very start that it does not deny its vegetarian origin.
Records will show that the Vegan Society has been a member of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) since its inception. There appears to be no debate as to the ultimate goal of achieving a truly plant-based diet as evidenced by the IVU website’s recipe collection which is comprised of all- vegan recipes. Mahatma Gandhi’s talk in 1931 at a meeting of the London Vegetarian Society wherein he emphasized the need for a moral basis for vegetarianism is believed to have largely boosted the confidence of “non-dairy” vegetarians, later known as vegans.