Jacques Cambry (2 October 1749 – 31 December 1807) was a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

writer and expert in Celtic France. An early proponent of what came to be called Celtomania, he was the founder of the Celtic Academy, the forerunner of the Societé des Antiquaires de France. In addition, he is still honored as the "inventor" of the

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

''département'' and praised for his contributions to the regional Breton identity as well as the national identity of post-Revolutionary

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Biography

Cambry, the son of a naval engineer, was born in Lorient,

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 embraced the French Revolution, and was appointed to various governmental positions, including district attorney for the Lorient ''commune'' in 1792. In 1794 he became Commissioner for Science and Arts and embarked upon a journey in

to visit the depots of confiscated nobility properties and the monasteries, which he published a report about in 1799. In 1799 he was appointed administrator of the

Department of the Seine Seine is a former department of France, which encompassed Paris and its immediate suburbs. It was the only enclaved department of France, being surrounded entirely by the former Seine-et-Oise department. Its prefecture was Paris and its INSEE n ...

. On 2 March 1800, he was installed as prefect of the newly established ''département'' the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, and engaged himself deeply not just in administrative but also in cultural, archeological, and historical matters; when he left office, on 16 May 1802, he had given the new ''département'' a sense of unity and had convinced its inhabitants that they had a history they should be proud of. He was the first president of the ''académie celtique'' which he cofounded in 1804 with the philologist

Éloi Johanneau Éloi Johanneau (2 October 1770 – 24 July 1851) was a French philologist. External links * 1770 births 1851 deaths 19th-century French writers French philologists French male writers 19th-century French male writers {{France-li ...

and the diplomat Michel-Ange Mangourit. The ''académie'' held its inaugural session on 30 March 1805 and subsequently reinvented itself as the ''Société des Antiquaires''. He remained president until his death in 1807. Considered a true

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

man, he is praised as well for his service to the national construction of France.

Publications and interests

Cambry published on historical and archeological topics. His ''Voyage dans le Finistère'' (1799) proved to be an important late-eighteenth century text exemplifying the concept of the sublime, as well as foreshadowing the movement in the nineteenth century that came to be known as Celtomania. It contains an early description of the

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.''département'' in Brittany, and was "hugely influential," and the book's heavily romantic and idealized description of, for instance, the

Pointe du Raz The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territori ...

became the inspiration for other writers describing the place in the following years. The book likewise greatly promoted travel to the area. While the book was originally intended as little more than an inventory of art objects that had escaped vandalism, it became much more than that; French historian

Alain Corbin Alain Corbin (born January 12, 1936, in Courtomer) is a French historian. He is a specialist of the 19th century in France and in microhistory. Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structu ...

qualified Cambry's prose as an "emotional mapping of the sea-shore" and refers to Cambry's jubilant evocations of moments of sublimity as "in the manner of Ossian's disciples." His ''Monumens celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des pierres'' (1805) is especially notable as an important work on Celtic monuments and megaliths in France and on

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

ism in general; Cambry dedicated the book to

, and "promoted a nationalist view of Breton megalithic monuments." Cambry also wrote on art, and published an essay on the painter

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

. As the former administrator of the Seine, he submitted a proposal to turn the quarries of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

into a cemetery, a plan which was never executed. His 1799 ''Rapport sur les sépultures'' accompanied the design by architect Jacques Molinos, and was inspired by an essay competition proposed a few years before by the National Institute of Sciences and Arts on how to deal with burial in post-Revolutionary France. The cemetery was designed as a circle, with a central temple containing a

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

and a repository for urns.

List of Publications

* ''Traces du Magnétisme''. The Hague: 1784. * ''Contes et proverbes, suivis d'une notice sur les troubadours''. Amsterdam: 1784 (repr. 1787). **Small collection of anecdotes drawn from Claude Fauchet,

Étienne Pasquier Étienne Pasquier (7 June 152930 August 30 1615) was a French lawyer and man of letters. By his own account he was born in Paris on 7 June 1529, but according to others he was born in 1528. He was called to the Paris bar in 1549. In 1558 he be ...

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye (June 1697 – 1 March 1781) was a French historian, classicist, philologist and lexicographer. Biography From an ancient family, his father Edme had been gentleman of the bedchamber to the Philip I, ...

, and others. *''Promenades d'Automne en Angleterre''. 1787. *''Catalogue des objets échappés au vandalisme''. 1795. *''Rapport sur les sépultures, présenté à l'administration centrale du département de la Seine, par le citoyen Cambry''. Paris: Pierre Didot l'Aîné, an VII 1799. **Remarking on the disastrous condition of many cemeteries at the end of the French Revolution, Cambry proposes a far-reaching effort to renew the way in which burials take place: "Respect for the dead, much more than one thinks, contributes to social well-being." *''Essai sur la vie et sur les tableaux du Poussin'', Pierre Didot l'Aîné, an VII. 1799. *''Voyage dans le Finistère ou État de ce département en 1794 et 1795''. Imprimerie-Librairie du Cercle Social, an VII 1799. **Originally conceived as a report on the state of the ''département'', it describes its condition shortly after the French Revolution. *''Voyage Pittoresque en Suisse et en Italie''. Paris: Jansen, an IX (1801). *''Description du département de l'Oise en deux volumes''. Imprimerie de P. Didot L'ainé, an XI. 1803.
''Monumens celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des pierres, Précédées d'une Notice sur les Celtes et sur les Druites, et suivies d'Étymologies celtiques''
Paris: chez Mad. Johanneau, Libraire, Palais du Tribunat, an XIII 1805.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cambry, Jacques Writers from Lorient 1749 births 1807 deaths Historians of France French male non-fiction writers