Die Geschichte des Veganismus

The word "vegan" was coined in 1944 — but the philosophy and practice of plant-based living stretches back over 2,500 years. Here's the full story.

Ancient roots (600 BCE – 500 CE)

The earliest documented advocacy for plant-based living comes from ancient India. The Jain philosopher Mahavira (~599–527 BCE) established the principle of ahimsa — non-violence toward all living beings — as the highest moral law. Jainism required strict vegetarianism as a religious obligation, and its most devout practitioners went further, eating only fallen fruit to avoid harming plants.

In ancient Greece, Pythagoras (~570–495 BCE) advocated for abstaining from all flesh, arguing that animals had souls and that killing them was morally wrong. The "Pythagorean diet" — as plant-based eating was known in the West for centuries — attracted followers including Ovid, Plutarch, and later Leonardo da Vinci.

In India, the Emperor Ashoka (~268–232 BCE) promoted vegetarianism throughout his empire after converting to Buddhism and being horrified by the violence of war. Buddhism's emphasis on compassion for all sentient beings made vegetarianism common among Buddhist monastics.

The 18th and 19th centuries

In 18th-century Europe, a new wave of vegetarian advocacy emerged. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) — the founder of utilitarianism — argued that the capacity to suffer, not intelligence or language, was the morally relevant criterion for how we should treat other beings. His famous line: "The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"

In 1847, the Vegetarian Society was founded in Manchester, England — the first formal vegetarian organisation in the Western world. Membership included a diverse mix of religious dissenters, health reformers, and animal welfare advocates.

Donald Watson and the founding of veganism (1944)

The word "vegan" was coined by Donald Watson (1910–2005), a Yorkshire woodworker and lifelong animal advocate. In November 1944, Watson and a small group of non-dairy vegetarians founded the Vegan Society in London. Watson explained his reasoning:

We can see quite plainly that our present civilisation is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilisations were built on the exploitation of slaves.

Watson lived to be 95 years old — a vegan for 81 of those years — and became a symbol of the long-term viability of plant-based living.

The modern movement (1960s–1990s)

Veganism grew slowly but steadily through the second half of the 20th century:

• 1975: Peter Singer's Animal Liberation provided the philosophical foundation for the modern animal rights movement.
• 1983: Tom Regan's The Case for Animal Rights articulated a rights-based approach to animal ethics.
• 1987: The term "plant-based" entered mainstream use, coined by researcher T. Colin Campbell.
• 1994: The Vegan Society's 50th anniversary saw a small but growing movement with an estimated 150,000 vegans in the UK.

The 21st century explosion

Veganism's growth since 2000 has been extraordinary:

• 2004: The first VegFest was held in Bristol, UK — the beginning of the plant-based festival circuit that now spans dozens of countries.
• 2014: "Veganism" was the fastest-rising search term on Google.
• 2019: "Veganuary" sign-ups hit 250,000. UK veganism grew 700% in a decade according to The Vegan Society.
• 2020: COVID-19 pandemic increased focus on zoonotic disease risk from animal agriculture, boosting plant-based interest.
• 2021: Beyond Meat went public. The global alternative protein market was valued at $29.4bn.
• 2024: Veganuary exceeds 700,000 sign-ups. Singapore becomes the first country to approve cultivated chicken for sale.