Julien Auguste Pélage Brizeux (12 September 1803 – 3 May 1858) was a French poet. He was said to belong to a family of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

origin, long settled in

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 educated for the law, but in 1827 he produced at the Théâtre Français a one-act verse comedy, ''Racine'', in collaboration with Philippe Busoni. His most important works are, first, ''Marie'' (1832, 1836, 1840), then, ''Les Bretons'' (1845, 1846). He also wrote in the Breton language, notably ''Telenn-Arvor'' and ''Furnez Breiz''.

Life

Brizeux was born at

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

(

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastl ...

. Though he was brought up with the

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...

dialect of Breton, in his Breton language verse he used the standardised

Breton orthography Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of ...

codified by

Jean-François Le Gonidec Jean François Marie Le Gonidec de Kerdaniel (Breton: Yann-Frañsez ar Gonideg) (4 September 1775 – 12 October 1838) was a Breton grammarian who codified the Breton language. He played an important role in the history of his native language by ...

. He became an ardent student of the

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

of Brittany, and had collected materials for a dictionary of Breton place-names. A journey to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in company with

Auguste Barbier Henri Auguste Barbier (29 April 1805 – 13 February 1882) was a French dramatist and poet. Barbier was born in Paris, France. He was inspired by the July Revolution and poured forth a series of eager, vigorous poems, denouncing the evils of the ...

made a great impression on him, and a second visit (1834) resulted in 1841 in the publication of a complete French translation of Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

'' in ''

terza rima ''Terza rima'' (, also , ; ) is a rhyming verse form, in which the poem, or each poem-section, consists of tercets (three line stanzas) with an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme: The last word of the second line in one tercet provides the rh ...

''. In his collection ''Primel el Nola'' (1852) he included poems written under Italian influence, entitled ''Les Ternaires'' (1841), but in the rustic idyll of ''Marie'' (1836) he turned to Breton country life. In ''Les Bretons'' (1845) he found his inspiration in the folklore and legends of his native province. In ''La Chasse du Prince Arthur'' he created a narrative around the short life of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, murdered by King John of England. His ''Histoires poétiques'' (1855) was crowned by membership in the French Academy. Following his death at Montpellier in 1858, his ''Œuvres complètes'' (2 vols., 1860) were edited with an assessment of the author by

Saint-René Taillandier Saint-René Taillandier (16 December 1817 – 22 February 1879) was a French writer and critic. Life Taillandier was born René Gaspard Ernest Taillandier, in Paris. He completed his studies in Heidelberg, and then became professor of literatu ...

. Another edition appeared in 1880–1884 (4 vols.). A long list of articles on his work may be consulted in an exhaustive monograph, ''Brizeux. Sa vie et ses œuvres'' (1898), by the abbé C. Lecigne. Known as "le prince des bardes bretons",After ''Les Noms qui ont fait l'histoire de Bretagne'' (1997). In Brittany, at least fourteen streets are named after him. he was credited as the founder of modern Breton literature by later Breton Celticists.

Théodore Botrel Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Durin ...

created a monument to him in

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...

, which is ceremonially adorned each year at the ''Fête des Fleurs d’Ajonc''. His works in Breton, ''Telenn Arvor'' (1844), and his collection of proverbs, ''Furnez Breiz'' (1845), were republished by

Roparz Hemon Louis-Paul Némo (18 November 1900 – 29 June 1978), better known by the pseudonym Roparz Hemon, was a Breton author and scholar of Breton expression. He was the author of numerous dictionaries, grammars, poems and short stories. He also fou ...

in the Breton language literary magazine ''

Gwalarn Gwalarn ("Northwesterly") was a Breton language literary journal. By extension, the term refers to the style of literature that it encouraged. 166 issues (numbered from 0 to 165) appeared between 1925 and May 1944. The journal was founded by Ropa ...

'' in 1929.

Works

* ''Racine'', one-act comedy in verse, with Philippe Busoni, Paris, Théâtre-Français, 27 décembre 1827 * ''Marie'', verse novel, 1832 on line text
/small> * ''Les Ternaires'', book of lyrics, 1841 * ''Les Bretons'', narrative poem, 1845 * ''Furnez Breiz'', 1845 Text in Wikisource
/small> * ''Histoires poétiques, suivies d'un Essai sur l'art, ou Poétique nouvelle'', 1855 on line text
/small> * ''Primel et Nola'', 1852 ;Editions and translations * ''Mémoires de Madame de La Vallière'', 2 vol., 1829 * ''La Divine Comédie de Dante Alighieri, traduction nouvelle par A. Brizeux,.avec une notice et des notes par le même'', 1841 ;Posthumous publications * ''Œuvres complètes'', 2 vol., 1860 on line text 12
/small> * ''Œuvres'', 1874 on line text
/small> * ''Œuvres'', 4 vol., 1879-1884 on line texts 1 : Marie. Télen Arvor. Furnez Breiz.2 : Les Bretons.3 : Les Fleurs d'or (Les Ternaires). Histoires poétiques I-III4 : Histoires poétiques IV-V. Cycle. Poétique nouvelle.
/small> * ''Marie, poème. Primel et Nola'', preface by

, illustrations by Henri Pille, 1882 * ''Œuvres choisies'', 1910 * ''Choix de poésies'', 1932 * ''Telenn arvor furnez Breiz peurreizet hag embannet gant Roparz Hemo'', 1932 * ''Un Poète romantique et ses amis : correspondance 1805-1858. Auguste Brizeux'', letters, edited by Jean-Louis Debauve, Brest, Centre de recherche bretonne et celtique, 1989

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brizeux, Julien Auguste Pelage 1803 births 1858 deaths 19th-century French poets 19th-century French male writers Breton-language writers Poets from Brittany French male poets French poets

Life

Works

See also

References

External links