Bernat Manciet (; 27 September 1923,
Sabres, Landes, France – 3 June 2005,
Mont-de-Marsan) was a famous
Occitan author.
Biography
Manciet attended school first in his native Sabres and then spent three years in the ''
lycée
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
'' of
Talence where he lived at his uncles', who were priests. They taught him
Latin and
Ancient Greek. He went on to sit 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 ...
'' in
Bordeaux on a Sunday of June, 1940. His education provided him with an incredible erudition that transpired from his every phrase. As
World War II broke out, Manciet started studying literature and political sciences.
This is how he became a
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
with
Marie-Pierre Kœnig, who was a high commissioner in Germany at a time when the defeated nation was trying to rebuild itself. He also took part in the
Nuremberg Trials. In 1955, his diplomatic career led him to such places as
Brazil and
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
in
Uruguay, from where his acute geopolitical skills probably sprang. Back in the Landes, he wed, fathered five children and ran his step-family's company, only for it to go bankrupt after ten years.
Bernat Manciet managed ''Òc'' magazine but always refused to side with such Occitan activists as
Robèrt Lafont and
Max Roqueta, with whom he nonetheless was quite friendly.
Literary career
A poet, a novelist, a playwright, an
essayist, a literary review director, an artist... Bernat Manciet also came on stage to recite his poems and even took part in shows alongside Bernard Lubat in Uzeste.
In 1972 already,
Renat Nelli wrote about Manciet in a bilingual collection of poems called ''La Poésie occitane'' (published by Seghers):
:"One won't have long to wait before an overall study of Manciet's work is made. Maybe it will help understand better this giant of originality, whose unremitting literary renewal and lyrical intimate spring have no cause to be jealous of the latest Parisian trends. With
René Char
René Émile Char (; 14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988) was a French poet and member of the French Resistance.
Biography
Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of the four children of Emile ...
and
Salvatore Quasimodo, Bernat Manciet is undoubtedly one of the great and underrated poets of modern Europe."
Bibliography
* ''Le Triangle des Landes'' (1981)
* ''L'Enterrament a Sabres'' (1996)
* ''Accidents'' (1955)
* ''Le Jeune homme de novembre'' / ''Lo Gojat de noveme'' (1995)
* ''Les Émigrants'' or ''Iphigénie devant la gare'' (1999)
* ''Cobalt'' (2002)
* ''De nouveau Cordoue'' / ''Cordoa enqüèra'' (2004)
* ''Casaus perduts'' (2005)
* ''Jardins perdus'' (2005)
* ''Les Murmures du mal'' (2006)
* ''Lo Brèc'' (2006)
External links
On Poezibao(in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manciet, Bernat
1923 births
2005 deaths
People from Landes (department)
Occitan-language writers
Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature)
20th-century French poets