Ronan Huon, also called René Huon, (3 August 1922 in Saint-Omer,

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

–

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, 18 October 2003), was a

Breton language Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of t ...

writer and editor. He was director and chief editor of the magazine''

Al Liamm ''Al Liamm'' (Breton language for "The Link") is a bimonthly magazine of culture and literature in the Breton language. History The first issue of ''Al Liamm'' was published in 1946. The initial magazine was created in Paris by Pêr ar Bihan and ...

''for over fifty years. His work has been recognized for its contribution to

Breton literature Breton literature may refer to literature in the Breton language (''Brezhoneg'') or the broader literary tradition of Brittany in the three other main languages of the area, namely, Latin, Gallo and French – all of which have had strong mutual ...

Early life

Huon's parents were from Trégor but his first language was French. He began to learn

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

(''Brezhoneg'') when he was 17 years old. He was educated at Lannion and at the

University of Rennes The University of Rennes is a public research university which will be officially reconstituted on 1 January 2023 and located in the city of Rennes, in Upper Brittany, France. The University of Rennes has been divided for almost 50 years, before ...

, where he earned a degree in English and a Diploma of Celtic Studies, after a year in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He returned from Britain in 1949, and was a high school teacher of English at

, where he remained until the end of his life. He had learned the rudiments of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

and admired the educational system which allowed the teaching of Welsh, unlike the centralized monolingual system in France.

Writer and editor

In 1945, along with Pol Le Gourrierec, he founded the magazine, '' Tír na nÓg'' (''Land of the Young''). This took the place of a previous Breton-language review, ''

Gwalarn Gwalarn ("Northwesterly") was a Breton language literary journal. By extension, the term refers to the style of literature that it encouraged. 166 issues (numbered from 0 to 165) appeared between 1925 and May 1944. The journal was founded by Roparz ...

'', that had run for 19 years after being launched by

Roparz Hemon Louis-Paul Némo (18 November 1900 – 29 June 1978), better known by the pseudonym Roparz Hemon, was a Breton author and scholar of Breton expression. He was the author of numerous dictionaries, grammars, poems and short stories. He also found ...

in 1925. In 1948, he co-founded the review magazine, ''

'' (''The Link''); these magazines merged in 1949, continuing as ''Al Liamm''. He directed and edited this review for about half a century. He also directed '' Éditions Al Liamm'', a Breton book publisher. ''Al Liamm'' magazine and the some 200 book titles are credited with potentially saving Breton from extinction. They represent the most durable publishing activity in Breton since 1945, stimulating many new journals since the 1960s. From 1985 to 1997, he was President of the Association des Editeurs de Bretagne, working with new authors to increase the availability of books in Breton. In 2000, the ''Al Liamm'' imprint was taken over by another publisher, ''An Here''. Huon completed and updated

's dictionary of'' Breton-French ''and'' French-Breton'', which sold more than 100,000 copies. As a writer, he had a collection of poems: ''Evidon Va-Unan'' (''For Myself''), and two collections of short stories: ''An Irin Glas'' (''The Sloes'' or ''The Blackthorn'') and ''Ur Vouezh Er Vorenn'' (''A Voice in the Mist''). He also translated from Welsh, particularly the short stories of Kate Roberts, and English. He wrote or collaborated as editor learning books for Breton, Breton grammar, and a 1984 book surveying recent Breton writing.

Publications

* ''Evidon Va-Unan'' (''For Myself''), published by Al Liamm, Brest, 1955 and 1976 (poems) * ''An Irin Glas'' (sources give this as ''The Green Shoes" or as "Plums''), published by Al Liamm, Brest, 1966 and 1971 (short stories) * ''Ur Vouezh Er Vorenn'' (''A Voice in the Mist''), published by Al Liamm, Brest, 1980 (short stories)

Award

In 1992, he received the '' Ordre de l'Hermine'' award for his life's labours.

Family

Huon was married to Elen Ar Meliner; they had four sons, one of whom, Tudual Huon, took his place at the head of the magazine.

References

External links

La Charte culturelle bretonne de 1977 (in French: Cultural Charter for Brittany - signed 1977, in effect from 1978)

Institut culturel de Bretagne

Bretagne Culture Diversité (articles in French and Breton, and a few in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huon, Ronan 1922 births 2003 deaths History of Brittany Languages of France Celtic language revival People from Saint-Omer University of Rennes alumni Breton-language writers Breton-language poets French male poets French male writers French magazine founders French magazine editors French schoolteachers Translators from Welsh 20th-century translators 20th-century French male writers