Blessed Frederic Ozanam was schooled in law, literature and philosophy and taught at the universities in Lyon and Paris. Challenged by a detractor of the faith to demonstrate the good he was doing socially in France, Frederic and six companions founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on April 23, 1833. On June 23, 1841 Frederic married Amelie Soulacroix, and their only child, Marie, was born in 1845. He succumbed to ill health and died on September 8, 1853. Pope John Paul II beatified Frederic Ozanam in Paris on August 22, 1997.