Athanase Jean (born 1861 in Saint-Césaire, died 1932 at

Rouffiac, Charente-Maritime Rouffiac () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population See also * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department The following is a list of the 463 communes of the Charente-Maritime department of Fran ...

) 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, into a family of winemakers. Having done well at his studies undertaken in Pons, 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 Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

for his military service. It was there that he began practising medicine. On his return to France, 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 Saintongeais (''saintonjhais'') is a dialect of Poitevin-Santongeais spoken halfway down the western coast of France in the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current departments o ...

, 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 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 Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...

, 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 Barthélemy, or Barthélémy is a French name, a cognate of Bartholomew. Notable people with this name include: Given name * Barthélemy (explorer), French youth who accompanied the explorer de La Salle in 1687 * Barthélémy Bisengimana, Cong ...

, well known for his sketches of peasant life, "Doctor Jean" will remain with Evariste Poitevin and

Odette Comandon Odette may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Odette'' (play), an 1881 play by Victorien Sardou ** ''Odette'' (1916 film), an Italian silent drama film based on the Sardou play ** ''Odette'' (1928 film), a German silent drama film based on t ...

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