Gustav Struve (1805-1870)

Gustav Struve

Gustav von Struve was a German politician, writer and revolutionary. He was one of the early promoters of ethical vegetarianism in Germany.

A man who daily sees Cows and Calves slaughtered, or who kills them himself, Hogs ‘stuck,’ Hens plucked or Geese roasted alive, &c., cannot possibly retain any true feeling for the sufferings of his own species. […]

But even those who take no part in killing, nay, do not even see it, are conscious that the flesh-dishes upon their tables come from the Shambles, and that their feasting and the suffering of others are in intimate connection. Doubtless, the majority of flesh-eaters do not reflect upon the manner in which this food comes to them, but this thoughtlessness, far from being a virtue, is the parent of many vices…

(quoted in Howard William’s The Ethics of Diet, p. 274)

• Struve - from The Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams, 1883