Combourg (; br, Komborn; ; Gallo: ''Conbórn'') is a commune in the

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 o ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

History

The town is part of the Patrimoine Urbain de Bretagne and labelled as one of Les Petites Cités de Caractère. Combourg is considered the "cradle of Romanticism" in French literature due to the renowned French writer François-René de Chateaubriand who spent part of his youth in his family's castle, the Château de Combourg. He describes the village and medieval castle in his ''Mémoirs from Beyond the Grave''. Combourg is located between the cities of Rennes and Saint-Malo in Brittany. It is approximately 386 km from Paris, 39 km from Rennes and 36 km from Saint-Malo .

Administration

Mayors

The current mayor of Combourg is Joël Le Besco (

Miscellaneous right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically suppor ...

). He replaced Marie-Thérèse Sauvée (

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

) in office from 1995 to 2001. * André Belliard (1932-2005), RPR mayor from 1971 to 1977 and from 1983 to 1995; * Joseph Hubert ''

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

'' (1921-1994),

Centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

mayor from 1970 to 1971 and from 1977 to 1983; * Abel Bourgeois (1904-1970),

Radical-Socialist The Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party (french: Parti républicain, radical et radical-socialiste) is a liberal and formerly social-liberal political party in France. It is also often referred to simply as the Radical Party (french ...

mayor from 1945 to 1970 (

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

). Among previous well-known mayors are: * Émile Bohuon (1880-1938), Independent Radical mayor from 1919 to 1938 (

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

); * Valentin Cutté (1854-1936),

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

mayor from 1903 to 1919; * Gervais Parent (1852-1913), from 1885 to 1900; * Victor Thomas (1832-1885), from 1876 to 1877, in 1878 and from 1880 to 1885; * Jean Gesbert de la Noë-Seiche (1748-1828), first mayor of Combourg in 1790.

Population

Inhabitants of Combourg are called ''Combourgeois'' and, more rarely ''Combournais'', in French.

Personalities

François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrat ...

(1768–1848), known as the father of Romanticism in French literature, spent his childhood in his family's castle, the

Château de Combourg Château de Combourg is a medieval castle in the '' commune'' of Combourg in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''département'' of Brittany, France. The castle stands on a small hill next to Lac Tranquille ("Lake Tranquil") in the town of Combourg. History ...

International relations

Combourg is twinned with Waldmünchen, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Gallery

File:Combourg (35) Église Notre-Dame - Extérieur - 01.jpg, Notre-Dame church of Combourg File:Combourg (35) Hôtel de Trémaudan.jpg, Maison de la Lanterne