Early life
Frederick was one of four out fourteen children in his family to survive infancy.
His father was an officer in Napoleon's army. Frederick was born in Milan, but the family moved back to Lyon.

Frederick and companions form a lay institute
He studied at the College Royal and was interested in both law and literature. He became involved with a group of liberal Catholic intellectuals - Emmanuel Bailly, historians Montalambert and Chateaubriand, the Romantic poet Lamartine and the Dominican preacher Lacordaire. This group along with a Daughter of Charity named Rosalie Rendu began the lay institute dedicated to caring for the physical and spiritual well-being of the poor.

Frederick took his doctorate in law in 1836 and although his father died around this time, he went on to gain a doctorate in literature with a thesis on Dante's philosophy.

A Dante scholar and accomplished linguist

In 1845 Frederick moved from Lyon to Paris and married Amalie who soon gave birth to a daughter. He combined an academic career with lecturing to the Cercle catholique and visiting the poor.  An accomplished linguist, he was promoted to professor in 1846 and began a project on the literary history of the Middle Ages from the 5th century to Dante. But he contracted tuberculosis and his health began to fail.

Death and influence
With Lacordaire he started a journal expounding Christian socialist principles. He went to Italy in 1853 partly for health reasons but also to collect a prestigious award for his work on Dante. On the return journey he collapsed and died at Marseilles on 8th September 1853.

Pope John Paul beatified him in August 1997, expressing the hope that more married people would be canonised. The Society of St Vincent de Paul has over a million members in 32 countires.