Joseph Roumanille (; 8 August 1818 – 24 May 1891) was a
Provençal poet. He was born at
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...
(
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...
), and is commonly known in southern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
as the father of the
Félibrige
The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
, for he first conceived the idea of raising his
regional language
*
A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area.
Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...
to the dignity of a
literary language
A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken langu ...
.
Biography
Joseph Roumanille was the son of Jean-Denis Roumanille and Pierrette Piquet. He studied at the nearby ''
collège
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 ...
'' (junior highschool) of
Tarascon
Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tarasc ...
(Bouches-du-Rhône) from 1834. After working as ''clerc de notaire'' in the same town from 1836 to 1839, Roumanille published his first verses in the ''
Écho du Rhône''. He then worked as a teacher in
Nyons
Nyons (; See mistralian norm, and classical norm of Provençal.) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.
History
Nyons was settled in the 6th century BC as ''Nyrax'' by a Gallic tribe, probably the Segusiavi or the Sequ ...
(
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. ), and later at the Dupuy ''collège'' in
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. When Roumanille was a teacher at Avignon, he discovered the genius of
Frédéric Mistral
Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel P ...
, one of his pupils, and together they began what later became the Félibrean movement.
He married Rose-Anaïs Gras, sister of
Provençal poet and novelist
Félix Gras.
In 1888, Roumanille succeeded Frédéric Mistral to become 2nd Capoulie of the
Félibrige
The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...
, an association devoted to the
Provençal language
Provençal may refer to:
*Of Provence, a region of France
* Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France
*''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language
*Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...
and
Provençal literature
Occitan literature (referred to in older texts as Provençal literature) is a body of texts written in Occitan, mostly in the south of France. It was the first literature in a Romance language and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throu ...
. He died in Avignon in the morning of 24 May 1891. His funeral was held on 26 May in Avignon and he was buried in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in the same grave as his parents.
Works
In 1847 Roumanille published a volume of verse called ''Li Marbarideto'' and in 1851 another entitled ''Li Sounjarello''. In 1852 along with Mistral and Anselme Mathieu he edited a collection of Provençal verse called ''Li Prouvençalo''. In 1853 he wrote a dissertation on Provençal spelling. The complete edition of his works includes ''Lis oubreto en vers, Lis oubreto en proso, Li capelan, Li conte prouvençau e li cascareleto, Li nouvé, Lis entarrochin'' and ''Letters''. His writing is wholesome and simple, reflecting the country folk of the region.
See also
*
Provençal literature
Occitan literature (referred to in older texts as Provençal literature) is a body of texts written in Occitan, mostly in the south of France. It was the first literature in a Romance language and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throu ...
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roumanille, Joseph
1818 births
1891 deaths
People from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
French poets
Occitan poets
French male poets
19th-century poets
19th-century French male writers
People from Tarascon