Origins of Our Name
We are often asked about the origin of our company's unique name. Aristede is an alternate spelling of the stage name used by 19th century French singer and comedian Louis Armand Aristide Bruant.
Although born into a bourgeois merchant-class family, Bruant frequented the working-class bistros of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, where he sang songs telling of the struggles of the poor. He soon became a star of Montmartre, dressed in a red shirt, black velvet jacket, high boots, and a long red scarf, and using the stage name Aristide Bruant. When the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec came to the Montmartre cabarets and clubs, Bruant became one of Lautrec's first friends. Bruant used his comedic work to poke fun at the club's upper-crust guests who were out "slumming" in Montmartre.
Like Aristide Bruant, both founders of Aristede.com were raised in middle-class families yet have a strong commitment to using our professional skills to support progressive causes. The company name Aristede.com highlights our desire to recognize our middle-class roots while using technology (hence the ".com" ending) to enable politicians who support progressive ideals to help society's less fortunate populations.