Donald Watson

This article is about the English animal rights advocate. diet.[8] In November 1944 in Leicester, he and his wife,
For other uses, see Donald Watson (disambiguation).
Dorothy, and four friends founded the Vegan Society.[9]
Someone in the group would have come up with a word
Donald Watson (2 September 1910 16 November to describe their way of life, he believed, but he suggested 'vegan'"the beginning and end of 'vegetarian'"
2005) was an English animal rights advocate who coined
"because veganism starts with vegetarianism and carries
the word vegan and founded the Vegan Society.
it through to its logical conclusion.[9] Watson and the
group launched the rst edition of the Societys quarterly
newsletter, The Vegan News, in the same year.[10] He ran
1 Early life
the publication single-handed for two years, writing and
duplicating the newsletter, and responding to the increas[9]
Watson was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, the son ing volume of correspondence.
of a headmaster in a mining community, an environ- Watson expanded his philosophy to object to any harm to
ment in which vegetarianism, let alone veganism, was living creatures. A committed pacist throughout his life,
unknown.[1] As a child, Watson spent time on his Un- Watson registered as a conscientious objector in World
cle Georges farm. The slaughtering of a pig on the farm War II.[11]
horried Watson; he said his view of farm life changed
from idyllic to a Death Row for animals. Watson began
to reassess his practice of eating meat. He became a veg4 Personal life
etarian in 1924 at the age of fourteen, making a New
Years resolution to never again eat meat. He gave up
dairy about 18 years later, having decided the production Watson enjoyed cycling, photography and playing the violin, and while not a party political supporter, he took a
of milk-related products was unethical.[1][2][3]
keen interest in political issues throughout his life.[6][12]
He said:
Watson was an agnostic.[9]

His brother and sister both adopted vegan lifestyles along

with him. All three Watson siblings registered as conscientious objectors during World War II.[1]

Teaching

On leaving school at fteen, Watson was apprenticed to a

family joinery rm, and from the age of twenty became
a joinery teacher.[5] He taught in Leicester, where he also
played a large part in the Leicester Vegetarian Society.
He moved on to Keswick, where he taught for twentythree years. He stayed in Cumbria for the rest of his
life.[1] For several years he devoted much time to working as a guided fell-walking leader,[6] as well as to organic
vegetable gardening, until very shortly before his death,
aged 95.[5]

5 References
[1] Obituary: Donald Watson. BBC. November 18, 2005.
Retrieved 2008-09-08.
[2] Interview with Donald Watson FoodsforLife.org.uk
[3] Donald Watson The Guardian
[4] The Vegan Summer, 2003 Edition.. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
[5] Davison, Phil (24 November 2005). Donald Watson Founder of veganism and the Vegan Society. Obituary.
London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-11-02.

Veganism and The Vegan Society

As Watson grew up, he did not smoke, consume alcohol,

or make contact with foods or substances which he regarded as toxins. In the 1940s, after learning about milk
production, he became a vegan.[1] He explained his motivation as ethical concern for sentient animals:

[6] Interview with Donald Watson at Vegparadise.com Accessed 2 Nov 2009

[7] Donald Watson in Vegan News n1, November 1944.
[8] Elliott, Rose (14 January 2006). Donald Watson - The
rst vegan, who invented the word - and outlived his many

Critics claimed that he could not survive on his proposed

1

critics. Obituary. London: The Guardian. Retrieved

2009-11-02.
[9] Interview with Donald Watson - Vegan Founder. Foods
for Life. December 15, 2002. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
[10] Obituary: Donald Watson. BBC News. 18 November
2005.
[11] Booth, Jenny (December 8, 2005). Donald Watson.
Obituary. London: TheTimes. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
[12] George D Rodgers Unabridged Interview With Donald
Watson on Sunday 15 December 2002

External links
First issue of the Vegan Society newsletter November 1944, Published and written by Donald Watson.
Accessed November 2009
Vegan Society main website (contains various,
changing information pages and leaets about Donald Watson)

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Donald Watson Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Watson?oldid=740647293 Contributors: Devotchka, Quercusrobur, Lumos3, Alan Liefting, Smjg, Gadum, Mpj, GrantNeufeld, SlimVirgin, Bbsrock, JBellis, Graham87, Kbdank71, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Vclaw,
Nicke L, Mitsu, PanchoS, SmackBot, Kellen, Alex Ex, Hmains, Bluebot, DMS, OrphanBot, Gobonobo, Paora, Courcelles, Cydebot, Walgamanus, Serpent-A, Edwardx, SummerPhD, Tartarugafechada, Shousokutsuu, Rentaferret, Waacstats, Damuna, WOSlinker, TXiKiBoT,
Piperh, Synthebot, BOTijo, Kingbird1, Randy Kryn, TuxedoPanther, Sun Creator, Dave Shishko, Mountdrayton, Addbot, Friend of the
Facts, Tassedethe, Lightbot, Mauler90, Groupitems999, AnomieBOT, Akhran, Piano non troppo, Quazu, Materialscientist, Omnipaedista,
FrescoBot, Ordnascrazy, Full-date unlinking bot, Blades95, RjwilmsiBot, , Katherine, Wikipelli, ZroBot, Xxxzenicxxx,
Wikignome0530, BG19bot, Doctorfuse, RadicalRedRaccoon, Sheloveslatte, Mysterious Whisper, LDTrain, Jonddunn, KasparBot, VeganWarrior and Anonymous: 39

7.2

Images

File:Paw_(Animal_Rights_symbol).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Paw_%28Animal_Rights_

symbol%29.svg License: GFDL Contributors: Paw (Animal Rights symbol).png: <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Paw_(Animal_Rights_symbol).png' class='image'><img alt='Paw (Animal Rights symbol).png' src='https://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Paw_%28Animal_Rights_symbol%29.png/64px-Paw_%28Animal_Rights_symbol%29.png'
width='64' height='61' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Paw_%28Animal_Rights_symbol%29.png/
96px-Paw_%28Animal_Rights_symbol%29.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Paw_%28Animal_
Rights_symbol%29.png/128px-Paw_%28Animal_Rights_symbol%29.png 2x' data-le-width='1256' data-le-height='1195' /></a>
Original artist: Fred the Oyster

7.3

Content license

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