Maurice Grevisse (;Maurice Grevisse about the pronunciation of his name, http://www.ina.fr/video/CPB08008704/maurice-grevisse-video.html 7 October 1895 – 4 July 1980) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

grammarian.

Biography

Born in Rulles, a small village in the

province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, Grevisse at a young age broke with a family tradition of working as blacksmiths by deciding to become a school teacher. He attended the Normal School of Carlsbourg, where he received his diploma as a primary school teacher in 1915. He then entered the Normal School of

Malonne Malonne ( nl, Maeslangen) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the city of Namur, located in the province of Namur, Belgium. It stood as an independent municipality until 1977 with their unification process. Geography Malonne lies on ...

and graduated as a secondary school teacher of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

. He received a position as a teacher of French at l'École des Pupilles of the army in Marneffe. During this period, he taught himself Latin and Greek. While continuing to proceed in his career, he read classical philology at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301� ...

. In 1925, he received the title of Doctor of

Classical Philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. In 1927, he became a professor at l'École Royale des Cadets in

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...

. As a schoolteacher turned professor, Grevisse realized that existing grammar guides did not answer the needs of his teaching. He gathered his notes together to produce a manuscript he called ''

Le Bon Usage ''Le Bon Usage'' (, ''Good Usage''), informally called ''Le Grevisse'', is a descriptive book about French grammar first published in 1936 by Maurice Grevisse, and periodically revised since. It describes the usage of the French language, pr ...

''. Many renowned publishers refused his manuscript; eventually a modest publisher from

Gembloux Gembloux (; wa, Djiblou; nl, Gembloers, ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants. The total area is 95.86 km², yielding a population den ...

, Belgium published it in 1936. The publishing house '' Duculot'' was launched, and the success of the work never flagged, even during the war.

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

, writing in ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...

'', cited ''Le Bon Usage'' as the best French-language grammar guide in existence. Grevisse was named an officer of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

in 1971. From 1967 to his death, he held a seat on the

International Council for the French Language International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. Today his son-in-law

André Goosse André Goosse (16 April 1926, Liège – 4 August 2019) was a Belgian grammarian. The son-in-law of Maurice Grevisse, he took over editing and updating Grevisse's last book, ''Le Bon Usage''. In 1988, he married the Belgian writer France Bastia. ...

, born in 1926 and also a grammarian, continues to revise ''Le Bon Usage'' which is currently in its 16th edition. Grevisse died in La Louvière, Hainaut, Belgium.

References

Bibliography

*''

'' : the first edition dates to 1936. Eleven editions were published during the life of Grevisse and with his signature. The 11th edition dates to 1980. The tradition of constant revision, so central to ''Le Bon Usage'', has been continued by the current editor, André Goosse - son-in-law of Maurice Grevisse - who has acted in this capacity from the 12th edition (1991) onwards. ''Le Bon Usage'' is currently (2018) in its 16th edition. Besides ''Le Bon Usage'', Grevisse published several school and reference books dealing with difficulties in French: *''Précis de grammaire française'' (1939) *''Cours de dictées'' *''Le Français correct'' (1973) *''Savoir accorder le participe passé'' (1975) *''Quelle préposition ?'' (1977) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grevisse, Maurice 1895 births 1980 deaths Belgian writers in French Linguists of French Linguists from Belgium 20th-century linguists