Joseph Roumanille (; 8 August 1818 – 24 May 1891) was a
Provençal poet. He was born at
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; "Saint-Rémy of Provence"; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department ...
(
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...
), and is commonly known in southern
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 ...
as the father of the
Félibrige
The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
, for he first conceived the idea of raising his
regional language
*
A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area.
Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority La ...
to the dignity of a
literary language
Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...
.
Biography
Joseph Roumanille was the son of Jean-Denis Roumanille and Pierrette Piquet. He studied at the nearby ''
collège
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...
'' (junior highschool) of
Tarascon
Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tara ...
(Bouches-du-Rhône) from 1834. After working as ''clerc de notaire'' in the same town from 1836 to 1839, Roumanille published his first verses in the ''
Écho du Rhône''. He then worked as a teacher in
Nyons
Nyons (; ) is a subprefecture of the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2021, the commune had a population of 6,771.
Nyons is a sub-prefecture of the department. Its olives have PDO status. (
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. ), and later at the Dupuy ''collège'' in
Avignon
Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
. When Roumanille was a teacher at Avignon, he discovered the genius of
Frédéric Mistral
Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; , 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was an Occitan writer and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of the fresh origina ...
, one of his pupils, and together they began what later became the Félibrean movement.
He married Rose-Anaïs Gras, sister of
Provençal poet and novelist
Félix Gras.
In 1888, Roumanille succeeded Frédéric Mistral to become 2nd Capoulie of the
Félibrige
The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
, an association devoted to the
Provençal language
Provençal may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to 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
* Proven ...
and
Provençal literature
Occitan literature (referred to in older texts as Provençal literature) is a body of texts written in Occitan, mostly in the south of France. It was the first literature written in a Romance language and inspired the rise of vernacular literatu ...
. He died in Avignon in the morning of 24 May 1891. His funeral was held on 26 May in Avignon and he was buried in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in the same grave as his parents.
Works
In 1847 Roumanille published a volume of verse called ''Li Marbarideto'' and in 1851 another entitled ''Li Sounjarello''. In 1852 along with Mistral and Anselme Mathieu he edited a collection of Provençal verse called ''Li Prouvençalo''. In 1853 he wrote a dissertation on Provençal spelling. The complete edition of his works includes ''Lis oubreto en vers, Lis oubreto en proso, Li capelan, Li conte prouvençau e li cascareleto, Li nouvé, Lis entarrochin'' and ''Letters''. His writing is wholesome and simple, reflecting the country folk of the region.
See also
*
Provençal literature
Occitan literature (referred to in older texts as Provençal literature) is a body of texts written in Occitan, mostly in the south of France. It was the first literature written in a Romance language and inspired the rise of vernacular literatu ...
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roumanille, Joseph
1818 births
1891 deaths
People from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Occitan-language poets
French male poets
19th-century French poets
19th-century French male writers
People from Tarascon