Charles Le Goffic (14 July 1863 – 12 February 1932) was a Breton poet, novelist and historian whose influence was especially strong in his native

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. He was a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

Biography

Born in

Lannion Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants. Climate Lannion ha ...

, northern Brittany, his childhood was spent with his nurse, either in

Perros-Guirec Perros-Guirec (; br, Perroz-Gireg) is a commune in the department of Côtes-d'Armor in Brittany. It has been a seaside resort since the end of the 19th century. Geography Climate Perros-Guirec has a oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classificat ...

, or in

Trégastel Trégastel (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of the region of Brittany in northwestern France. Trégastel is situated between Perros-Guirec and Pleumeur-Bodou. Lannion is 10 kilometres away. Population Inhabitants of Trégas ...

. In October 1888, he married Julie Fleury. Following a legal judgement in his favour he bought a farm at Run-Rouz in Trégastel. He worked as a teacher in Gap,

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

and in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. In 1886, he founded with

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work '' The Cult of the Self'' in 188 ...

and Raymond de Tailhède the literary review ''Les Chroniques''. Goffic wrote widely about aspects of Breton and broader Celtic cultural identity, emphasising the importance of local traditions and cultural continuity. His short stories ''Passions Celtes'' (1910) were widely influential on the Breton cultural renaissance. One of them was dramatised by Le Goffic at the request of

Guy Ropartz Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (; 15 June 1864 – 22 November 1955) was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphonies, three violin sonatas, cello sonatas, six string quartets, a piano trio and string trio (both in A minor ...

for the libretto of his opera Le Pays.Michel Fleury, ''The Song of the Exile'', Le Pays, Timpani, 2002 Politically close to

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-parl ...

, he collaborated on the ''Revue d'Action française'' (1899), which later became ''L'

Action française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'' (1908). Although a convinced republican, his militant regionalism and his traditionalist ideals led him to support the "

Maurrassisme ''Maurrassisme'' is a political doctrine originated by Charles Maurras (1868–1952), most closely associated with the ''Action française'' movement. ''Maurassisme'' advocates absolute integral nationalism, monarchism, corporatism, national sy ...

" project to restore the monarchy, as his letter published in ''L'Enquête sur la monarchie'' (1900) testifies. Goffic was elected member of the Académie française in 1930. In 1895 he introduced the

Great Highland Bagpipe The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British mili ...

to Brittany. He is interred in the enclosure of the church of the borough of Trégastel, with his wife and their daughter, who died at the age of 17.

Bibliography

*Nous autres (1879) *Velléda (1882) *Les Mémoires de Saint-Simon, avec Jules Tellier (1888) *Amour Breton, poésie (1889) *Les Romanciers d'aujourd'hui (1890) *Chansons bretonnes (1891) *Le Crucifié de Kéraliès (1892) *Passé l'amour (1894) *Contes de l'Assomption (1895) *Sur la côte (1896) *La Payse (1897) *Morgane (1888) *Le Bois dormant, poésie (1900) *Le Pardon de la reine Anne, poésie (1901) *L'âme bretonne (4 vol., 1902–1922) *Les Métiers pittoresques (1903) *L'Erreur de Florence (1903) *Les Sept-Iles (1904) *Les Calvaires Bretons (1904) *Les Bonnets rouges (1906) *La Cigarière (1907) *Passions celtes (1909) *La double confession (1909) *La littérature française au XIXe siècle (1909) *Ventôse. Le pays (1910) *Fêtes et coutumes populaires (1911) *Racine (2 vol., 1912) *Le Pirate de l'île Lern (1913) *Monsieur Ernest Renan dans la Basse-Bretagne (1913) *Poésies complètes (1913) *Dixmude (1915) *Bourguignottes et pompons rouges (1916) *Les Marais de Saint-Gond (1917) *Steenstraëte (1917) *Sans nouvelles (1917) *La guerre qui passe (1918) *Saint-Georges et Nieuport (1919) *Les Trois Maréchaux (1919) *Bretagne (1920) *La littérature française aux XIXe et XXe siècles (1920) *La Marne en feu (1921) *L'Abbesse de Guérande (1921) *Chez les Jean Gouin (1921) *L'Odyssée de Jean Chevanton (1921) *L'Illustre Bobinet (1922) *Croc d'argent (1922) *Le Treizain de la nostalgie et du déchirement. La visite nocturne, poésies (1926) *Madame Ruguellou (1927) *La Tour d'Auvergne (1928) *Anthologie des poètes de la mer (1929) *Mes entretiens avec Foch, suivis d'un entretien avec le général Weygand (1929) *La Chouannerie : Blancs contre Bleus (1790–1800) (1931) *Poésies complètes (2 vol., 1931) *Ombres lyriques et romanesques (1933)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Goffic, Charles 1863 births 1932 deaths People from Lannion Members of the Académie Française French male writers Writers from Brittany 19th-century French poets 20th-century French poets Poets from Brittany