Julien Pélage Auguste Brizeux (12 September 1803 – 3 May 1858) was a French poet. He was said to belong to a family of Irish origin, but long settled in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He was educated for the law, but in 1827 he produced at the Théâtre Français a one-act verse comedy, ''Racine'', in collaboration with . His most important works are, first, ''Marie'' (1832, 1836, 1840), then, ''Les Bretons'' (1845, 1846). He also wrote in Breton literature in his native Cornouaille dialect of the

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

, most notably ''Telenn-Arvor'' and ''Furnez Breiz''.

Life

Brizeux was born at Lorient, Morbihan. Though he was brought up with the Cornouaille dialect of Breton, in his Breton language verse he used the standardised Breton orthography codified by Jean-François Le Gonidec. He became an ardent student of the

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in company with Auguste Barbier 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'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'' in '' terza rima''. 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 Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in 1858, his ''Œuvres complètes'' (2 vols., 1860) were edited with an assessment of the author by Saint-René Taillandier. 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 Constantin 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

Celticist Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history ...

s. Théodore Botrel created a monument to him in Pont-Aven, 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 in the Breton language literary magazine '' Gwalarn'' 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 Saint-René Taillandier, 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

Legacy

In 1888, a monument was created in the town of Lorient in tribute to Brizeux. In Britanny, 1 elementary school, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school were named after him, as well as 19 streets in various towns of France.

References

Sources

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 Translators of Dante Alighieri