Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in

Saint-Didier, Nièvre Saint-Didier () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the A ...

, died 25 July 1956 in

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

, was a French

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

. A world-renowned specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folktales found in France and French-speaking areas, structured and modeled on the Aarne-Thompson classification system. The first volume appeared in 1957, a few months after his death. The project, expected to run to several volumes, was continued by . After dabbling in his interest into local flora (''Étude sur la Flore nivernaise'', published 1930), he dedicated himself to transcribing and index-carding collected folktales in the manuscripts left by

Achille Millien Achille Millien (4 September 1838 – 12 January 1927) was a French poet and folklorist. His poetic work includes a dozen collections of rustic inspiration: ''La Moisson'', ''Chants agrestes'', ''Musettes et clairons'', ''Chez nous'', ''Aux cha ...

, the

Nivernais Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.Saint-Léger-des-Vignes Saint-Léger-des-Vignes () is a commune in the department of the Nièvre, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, in central France. Geography Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is situated in the South of the Nièvre, on the road D981. It is the beginning point of th ...

, then Montsauche and Vauzelles, then moving to the Paris area. He was director of the school in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

, 1939–1946. His articles showed interest in the origins of the mother goose tales of

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

, and the relationship between oral and written literature. An anthology by Delarue was published in English translation as ''The Borzoi Book of French Folk Tales'' in 1956. He had distinguished service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and had received the

legion of honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was ranked Chef de bataillon (

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

), fighting battles in

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

and

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, taken prisoner in 1940, and liberated in 1941. Paul Delarue headed the folklore committee at the

Ligue de l'enseignement ''La Ligue de l'enseignement'' was initially conceived and created by the journalist Jean Macé, on 15 November 1866. It was advocated for by liberal press, as public, free, compulsory and secular education. A congress convened in 1881, which ...

(1946-1953) and subsequently at the Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires. He was also vice-president of the Société d'Ethnographie Française from 1952, and sat on the directing committee at thea Fédération Folklorique d'Île-de-France. His son Georges Delarue (born 1926) has continued along his footsteps, publishing ''Chansons populaires du Nivernais et du Morvan'' (7 volumes).

Works

* ''Recueil de chants populaires du Nivernais'', 1934-1947 (with Achille Milien). * ''La « Promesse » de Jean-Pierre et de la Yeyette'', 1936 * ''Écoliers, chantez nos chansons folkloriques'', 1938 * ''L'Amour des trois oranges et autres contes folkloriques des Provinces de France'', 1947 * ''La Bête de la forêt'', 1947 * ''Vieux métiers du Nivernais. Les fendeurs'', 1949 * ''Le Conte populaire français : Catalogue raisonné des versions de France et des pays de langue française d'outre-mer : Canada, Louisiane, îlots français des États-Unis, Antilles Françaises, Haiti, Île Maurice, La Réunion'', with

Marie-Louise Ténèze Marie Louise or Marie-Louise may refer to: People *Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689), daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, queen consort of Charles II of Spain *Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrave ...

, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1957 * ''Le Conte populaire français'', with

, Maisonneuve et Larose, 1993 (nouv. éd.)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

Biography

French folklorists Collectors of fairy tales 20th-century French non-fiction writers 1889 births 1956 deaths People from Nièvre French literary theorists {{France-writer-stub