The original correspondence in which Leslie Cross defined veganism as "the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals."
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In 1951, Leslie Cross — then Vice-President of the Vegan Society — wrote the letters that gave veganism its clearest formal definition. The principle is short, absolute, and easy to misread once you know the version that came later.
No qualifiers. No "as far as possible and practicable." No room for negotiation. The full text — every letter Cross wrote on the subject, and the contemporary writings around them — is preserved in the archive below.
The complete founding archive is hosted as a public document. It includes every Leslie Cross letter, surrounding context, and the original definition before the 1979 dilution.
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