Bernard Bonnejean (born 10 June 1950 in

Ernée Ernée () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. It is named after the river Ernée, which runs through the town and is situated about halfway between the towns of Laval and Fougères. Ernée is home to a purpose-built m ...

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

), is a French author, specialist of catholic

French poetry French poetry () is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France. French prosody and poetics The modern French language does not have a significant st ...

of 19th and 20th centuries.

Youth

Bernard Bonnejean is the last of eight children of a family of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

’s origin. In 1959 the family moved to

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

where the father, Maurice, is ironsmith to Arsenal, then clerk after retirement. The family settled in 1965 in

Professorship

After earning his ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'', Bernard Bonnejean works as a teacher and middle school professor in

Catholic education Catholic education may refer to: * Catholic school, primary and secondary education organised by the Catholic Church or organisations affiliated with it * Catholic university, private university run by the Catholic Church or organisations affilia ...

. He's ''licencié es Lettres'',

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, and certified teacher of modern literature, in

Saint-Pierre-la-Cour Saint-Pierre-la-Cour () is a commune, in the Mayenne department in the north-western of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, ...

. He finished his career as a teacher in a secondary school in

Laval, Mayenne Laval () is a town in western France, about west-southwest of Paris, and the capital of the Mayenne department. Its inhabitants are called ''Lavallois''. The commune of Laval proper, without the metropolitan area, is the 7th most populous in ...

as an ''Agrégé de Lettres modernes''. He earned the title of Doctor after leaving education. He was secretary of the ''Association Mayennaise d’échanges et de partage'' (AMEP) from 1975 to 2001, to finance the apprenticeship of young Cameroonian mothers, founder and president of the ''Association Lycée en Poésie''.

Writer and researcher

Bernard Bonnejean expressed in 1996 about the true catholicism of

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...

. Particularly, he examines the work of catholic

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel ''À rebou ...

and poetry of

Therese of Lisieux Therese or Thérèse is a variant of the feminine given name Teresa. It may refer to: Persons Therese *Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1773–1839), member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Duchess of Mecklenburg * Therese of B ...

.« Her writings also include 54 Poésies, some of which have great theological and spiritual depth inspired by Sacred Scripture. Worthy of special mention are Vivre d'Amour!... (Poésies 17) and Pourquoi je t'aime, ô Marie! (Poésies 54), an original synthesis of the Virgin Mary's journey according to the Gospel. To this literary production should be added eight Récréations pieuses: poetic and theatrical compositions, conceived and performed by the Saint for her community on certain feast days, in accordance with the tradition of Carmel. Among those writings should be mentioned a series of 21 Prières” HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II, ''DIVINI AMORIS SCIENTIA'', "SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND THE HOLY FACE IS PROCLAIMED A DOCTOR OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH", Given in Rome, at St Peter's, under the Fisherman's ring, the 19th day of the month of October in the year of the Lord 1997, the 20th of the Pontificate. Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana. His thesis entitled ''Les Poètes catholiques français de Verlaine à Péguy, 1870-1914'' (''The French-Catholics Poets from Verlaine to Péguy, 1870-1914''), is sustained in 2003 in the

University of Rennes 2 - Upper Brittany Rennes 2 University (UR2; french: Université Rennes 2) is a public university located in Upper Brittany, France. It is one of the four universities in the Academy of Rennes.The two others are: UBO (Brest), Western Brittany, and UBS in Lorient - ...

Works and articles

• “''Liturgies intimes'', un recueil à redécouvrir”, ("''Liturgies intimes'', a collection to rediscover"), in ''Spiritualité verlainienne'', Actes du colloque international de

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

(novembre 1996), (Proceedings of International Symposium of Met
Metz
(November 1996), Klincksieck, 1997 (). • "Le ''Verlaine'' de Guy Goffette", in Revue Verlaine n° 5, 1997. • "Huysmans avant À Rebours : les fondements nécessaires d'une quête en devenir", in Le Mal dans l'imaginaire français (1850–1950), éd. David et L'Harmattan, 1998 () ; "Huysmans before ''A Rebours'': The necessary foundation for a quest to become", The evil in the French imaginary (1850–1950), Ed. David and L'Harmattan, 1998 () • ''Les Poètes français d'inspiration catholique (1870–1914)'', ''The French inspired Catholic poets (1870–1914)'', 2 vol., (695p.), thèse de doctorat, Université de Rennes-II, 2003 ; Lille :

Atelier national de reproduction des thèses Public function The French Atelier National de Réproduction des Thèses (ANRT), the national reproduction centre for PhD theses, was a public body under the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (department of scientific and technic ...

, 2004. • ''Poésie thérésienne'', (''Poetry of Therese''), Preface Constant Tonnelier,

Éditions du Cerf ''Éditions du Cerf'' ( French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order. The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41): As the hart pantet ...

, Paris, 2006, II-292 p., (), (FRBNF 40238743k). The thesis is published in three volumes • ''Clio et ses poètes'', ''Clio and her poets : the Catholic poets in history, 1870-1914'', with a foreword by Don Bertrand Gamelin,

, Paris, 2007, 354 p., () • ''Le Dur Métier d’apôtre'', ''The hard work of Apostle : Catholic poets to discover a real authenticity, 1870-1914'', with a preface by Olivier Bourdelier,

, Paris, 2009, 320 p., (), (FRBNF 42011100g). • ''Les Chemins d'un Éden retrouvé'', Paths of Paradise Found, Forthcoming.

External links

�
Blog de Bernard Bonnejean
;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnejean, Bernard 1950 births Living people People from Ernée French literary critics French male non-fiction writers Rennes 2 University alumni