Athanase Jean (born 1861 in

Saint-Césaire Saint-Césaire () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), southwestern France. In the 1970s, a Neanderthal skeleton was found near Saint-Césaire.

, died 1932 at Rouffiac, Charente-Maritime) was a French country doctor and writer.

Life

Athanase Jean, better known by the name of Doctor Jean, was born on 24 November 1861 at Saint-Cesaire,

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

, into a family of winemakers. Having done well at his studies undertaken in

Pons The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other bipeds lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum. The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of Va ...

, Saintes and

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

and ending up specialising in naval health, he found himself posted to Guyana for his military service. It was there that he began practising medicine. On his return to

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 ...

, he was able to complete his university degree. He was subsequently asked by the residents of Rouffiac to become their local doctor, a post that he kept until his death on 17 February 1932. An enthusiastic man and curious about everything, he kept his peasant roots at heart and showed a talent for speaking and writing about the Saintonge using the local dialect. This resulted in several works, the most relevant and most popular of which was undoubtedly "La Mérine à Nastasie", a comedy in three acts in Saintongeais, and published under the pseudonym of Yan San Acer (Saint-Acer being the Saintonge name of his birthplace, Saint-Césaire ). It was performed for the first time on 25 May 1902 at the Chateau de Mauleon in Rouffiac. On 4 December of the same year it made its début in Paris at the Salle Lancry. It has been reprised on various occasions throughout the twentieth century. As well as working tirelessly as doctor, he also took part in local government serving on the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

and serving as mayor and councillor for the town of Pons. He worked to promote the revival of the local vineyard after its destruction by phylloxera, and was instrumental in having a railway station built to serve the village using the receipts from the first performance of his play "La Mérine à Nastasie". He was also responsible for bringing the telephone to the commune. Like Barthélemy Gautier, well known for his sketches of peasant life, "Doctor Jean" will remain with Evariste Poitevin and Odette Comandon as one of the principal names associated with Saintonge culture.

List of Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean, Athanase 1861 births 1932 deaths People from Charente-Maritime Languages of France 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights