Michel Rodange (3 January 1827 – 27 August 1876) was a Luxembourgish writer and poet, best known for writing Luxembourg's

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with a ...

, ''Reynard, Renert'' ull original title: ''Renert oder de Fuuß am Frack an a Ma'nsgrëßt''''Renert'' at the ''European Literary Characters'' website.
Retrieved on 22 April 2015. Retrieved on 22 April 2015. Rodange was born in

Waldbillig Waldbillig ( lb, Waldbëlleg or (locally) ) is a commune and small town in the canton of Echternach, Luxembourg. , the town of Waldbillig, which lies in the centre of the commune, has a population of 566. Other towns within the commune include ...

. He was a schoolteacher by profession, teaching in

Steinsel Steinsel ( ) is a commune and town in central Luxembourg. It is located north of Luxembourg City. , the town of Steinsel, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 1,844. Other towns within the commune include Heisdorf and Mul ...

and

Larochette Larochette (; Luxembourgish: ''Fiels'', German: ''Fels'') is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, in the canton of Mersch. It is situated on the White Ernz river. The town is dominated by the partly ruined Larochette Castle. The town of ...

, although he later became a city worker in

Echternach Echternach ( lb, Iechternach or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in ...

. His most notable work was ''Renert'', published in 1872. An epic satirical work—adapted from the 1858 Cotta Edition of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

's fox epic ''Reineke Fuchs'' to a setting in Luxembourg— it is known for its insightful analysis of the unique characteristics of the people of Luxembourg, using regional and sub regional

dialects The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

to depict the fox and his companions. The Lycée Michel-Rodange school in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

is named after him. He has been featured on two

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

References

1827 births 1876 deaths Luxembourgian educators Luxembourgian poets Waldbillig 19th-century Luxembourgian people 19th-century poets {{Luxembourg-writer-stub