Alexis Gourvennec (January 11, 1936,

Henvic Henvic (; br, Henvig) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Henvic are called in French ''Henvicois''. See also *Communes of the Finistère department The following is a l ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

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 **Ga ...

pig farmer and economic leader who played a major role in the regeneration of

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 ...

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 area ...

, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In the early 1960s he was a leading militant in the Young Farmers' Movement, and in 1961 he helped found and led SICA (Societe d'Interet Collectif Agricole) St-Pol-de-Leon. Gourvennec-alexis01

He was a leader of a group of leading Bretons who pressed five key demands (from the regional structure plan) on the French administration in the late 1960s: * A modern road network between the region and Paris * The setting up of a telecommunications network * A strengthening of educational provision especially Brest University * Improving industrial development at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

* The construction of a deep-water port at

Roscoff Roscoff (; br, Rosko) is a commune in the Finistère département of Brittany in northwestern France. Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled (small town of character) since 2009. Roscoff is also a traditional departure ...

The French government agreed to these demands in October 1968. Gourvennec saw a place for Brittany as part of a 'Celtic arc', stretching down the entire Atlantic coastline of Europe, and was keen to develop a service from

to Plymouth. However, no existing ferry company viewed the route as worthwhile, and so Gourvennec and colleagues founded

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, a ...

. When Prince Charles visited

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

in 1988, the local media apparently headlined his meeting with Gourvennec as 'Prince of Wales at the home of the Prince of Brittany' (see article by Peter Forde) probably in reference to the farmers' brand "Prince de Bretagne" created under Gourvennec's impulse. https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_de_Bretagne_(marque)

References

Times obituary

''The Man who made Modern Brittany'', by Peter Forde (in ''Insight Guides:Brittany'' :ed Brian Bell, 1995, APA Publications (HK) Ltd)