Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur (March 20, 1779 – June 26, 1839) was a French missionary in the United States and the first bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana.

The younger, Abbé Bruté de Loirelle, was royal censor of Belles-Lettres at Paris, and was the author of several works in prose and verse.

Bruté's mother had an uncle who belonged to the Premonstratensians, and a sister in the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

[6] Bruté was born at night on March 20, 1779, at Rennes, France, and baptized early in the morning of the same day in the church of St. Germain [fr].

[4] Bruté's father served as Director of the Finances of his native province with the promise of succession to the more remunerative office of Farmer-General of the revenues at Paris.

My father died (27th February, 1786) a few days after a very painful operation which had been rendered necessary by a fall from his Horse—and instead of a succession of opulence, left his affairs in the greatest disorder.

Your Father, my Mother often said to me, could never be made to distrust anyone; he believed every person to be good and honest like himself—and the state of his accounts at the time of his death showed it."

Friends and lawyers advised her to renounce the succession, Bruté writes, "but she, very justly, regarded an honourable name, as of more importance than wealth, and in order to preserve this to us, she determined to take upon herself the management of his affairs, even at the sacrifice of her own property."

During the height of the French Revolution, she made young Bruté work in the print shop, learning to composite type and set pages, to save him from being enrolled in a regiment of boys aged 14 to 16 named "the Hope of the country.

"[11] Despite his mother's efforts to shield him from the Reign of Terror and other horrors, the aristocratic youth still witnessed many disturbing scenes, including the trials and executions of priests and nobles.

Ordained a priest in 1808, Bruté refused the post of assistant chaplain to Napoleon I, but instead joined the Society of Saint-Sulpice, and taught theology in the diocesan seminary at Rennes from 1808 through 1810.

[12] Due to his long interest in missions, Bruté met Benedict Joseph Flaget, who had left Saint Sulpice when it was closed during the French Revolution and then served as a missionary in the United States.

Two years later, he returned to Emmitsburg, where he lectured on Sacred Scripture and taught Theology and Moral Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's College.

In 1834, despite his protest of ill health, melancholy, and some difficulty with conversation in English ("I lose the half of it and I am not understood"),[16] Bruté accepted the position of Bishop of Vincennes and crossed the Appalachian Mountains to serve in the newly created diocese, which encompassed all of modern-day Indiana plus eastern Illinois.

The new bishop soon traveled to France to recruit priests and seek funds to build St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, a library, seminary, and parochial schools.

He maintained a correspondence with Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais, whom he tried to reconcile with the Church both by his letters from this country and conferring with him during one of his visits to France, but without success.

Bruté knew the great assistance a religious order could provide, having worked with Mother Seton and her Sisters of Charity during the founding and early years of Mount Saint Mary's College in Emmitsburg.

[21] Bruté sent Hailandière as a representative to their native France in search of a religious congregation to come to the diocese and teach, provide spiritual instruction, and assist the sick.

[22] His tremendous influence on the entire church, his success in planning, financing, and carrying out necessary ecclesiastical reforms, and the constructive and executive ability he displayed in his diocese made him one of the foremost Catholic emigrants to the United States.

[25] Ambrosi had an existing relationship with the archdiocese as postulator of the cause of St. Theodora Guérin, who would be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, and therefore had a strong prior knowledge of the early history of the Diocese of Vincennes.