Émile Ripert (1882–1948) was a French academic, poet, novelist and playwright. He served as the inaugural Chair of

Provençal Language Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France *Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language Franco-Prove ...

and Literature at

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

. He was the author of three novels, four poetry collections, three plays and five non-fiction books about Provençal culture.

Early life

Émile Ripert was born on 19 November 1882 in

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; oc, label=Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternm ...

near

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

. His father was Joseph Casimir Ripert and his mother, Marie-Louise Beranger. His paternal grandfather came from

Cadenet Cadenet () is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Cadenétiens'' in French. Geography Cadenet is a village located on the southern slopes of the Lu ...

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label=Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019. Ripert graduated from the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education sca ...

. He completed a PhD from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

Career

Ripert began his career as a teacher in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

, followed by Marseille. He was appointed as the first-ever Chair of Provençal Language and Literature at

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

in 1920. Meanwhile, Ripert published poetry collections as early as 1908. He published a travel narrative in 1925, and several plays from 1933 onward. He also published some novels. Ripert was inducted into the

Académie de Marseille The Académie de Marseille, officially the Académie des sciences, lettres et arts de Marseille, is a French learned society based in Marseille. It was founded in 1726 and includes those in the city involved in the arts, letters, and sciences. Hi ...

in 1916, replacing

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel P ...

. At Mistral's funeral in 1914, Ripert had praised

Giuseppe Bottai Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Early life Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Elen ...

, a Fascist politician. Moreover, Ripert was part of an official delegation to Fascist Italy alongside

Jean Rivain Jean Rivain (1883–1957) was a French political writer and journal editor. He was the co-founder of '' La Revue critique des idées et des livres''. Early life Jean Rivain was born on 14 November 1883 in Paris, France. Career Rivain was a p ...

, Philippe de Zara,

Rémy Roux Rémy Roux (1865–1957) was a French politician. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Histor ...

and Marius Jouveau.

Personal life and death

Ripert married Adrienne Eugénie Gras on 25 April 1908. His father-in-law, Dr Evariste Gras, served as the mayor of La Ciotat. Ripert died on 23 April 1948 in Marseille.

Works

Poetry

* * * *

Novels

* * *

Plays

* * *

Non-fiction

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripert, Emile 1882 births 1948 deaths People from Bouches-du-Rhône École Normale Supérieure alumni University of Paris alumni Aix-Marseille University faculty French poets French dramatists and playwrights French novelists