Régis-Marie-Joseph de l'Estourbeillon de la Garnache (11 February 1858 - 7 September 1946) was a Breton aristocrat and politician who was associated with Breton regionalist activism. He is generally known as Régis de l'Estourbeillon, but held the title Marquis de l'Estourbeillon. He was born in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. He became interested in preserving Breton regional identity as a young man, founding the

Breton Regionalist Union The Breton regionalist union (Union Régionaliste Bretonne or URB) was a Breton cultural and political organisation created August 16, 1898. It was a broadly conservative grouping dedicated to preserving Breton cultural identity and regional indepe ...

in 1898. He edited ''La Revue de Bretagne'' with the Count René de Laigue. The publication appeared from 1902 to 1943. He was elected to the national

Chamber of Deputies of France Chamber of Deputies (french: Chambre des députés) was a parliamentary body in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: * 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the lower house o ...

for the department of

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

, becoming one of the most active members of ''

Action libérale The Popular Liberal Action (french: Action libérale populaire, ALP), simply called Liberal Action (), was a political party that represented Catholic supporters of the French Third Republic. It operated in the center-right, primarily to oppose ...

'', a rightist pro-Catholic faction within the Republic. L'Estourbeillon was associated with

anti-Dreyfusard The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

views, and attended a "grand reunion antisemite" in Nantes with

Jules Guérin Jules Guérin (14 September 1860 – 10 February 1910) was a French journalist and anti-Semitic activist. He founded and led the Antisemitic League of France (), an organisation similar to the , and edited the French weekly (Paris, 1896–190 ...

in 1898. Liberals and Drefusards left the Breton Regionalist Union to found the rival Blues of Brittany in the same year. In 1909, deputed by the first district of

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

, he led the delegation to lobby for the teaching of the

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 ...

in Breton schools and colleges. He attempted to interest the Minister of State for education

Gaston Doumergue Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (; 1 August 1863 in Aigues-Vives, Gard18 June 1937 in Aigues-Vives) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He served as President of France from 13 June 1924 to 13 June 1931. Biography Doumergue ca ...

who refused their request by claiming that "teaching of Breton would support the separatist tendencies". He participated in

World War I 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 ...

as a volunteer, joining French forces at the age of 56. For his actions he was decorated with the

Croix de guerre 1914-1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

and made Chevalier de la

Légion d'honneur 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 ...

. After the war he withdrew from national politics, but continued to pursue his demands for official teaching of the Breton language. In January 1919 he wrote a public declaration reasserting the demand published by ''Libre parole''.Keltia
/ref> In the 1920s he became a member of the Breton cultural movement

Seiz Breur Seiz Breur was an artistic movement founded in 1923 in Brittany. Although it adopted the symbolic name ''seiz breur'', meaning ''seven brothers'' in the Breton language, this did not refer to the number of members, but to the title of a folk-story. ...

, sometimes writing under the Breton pseudonym Hoël Broërec'h. He died at the ''château de Penhoët'',

Avessac Avessac (; br, Avezeg) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population See also *Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department The following is a list of the 207 communes of the Loire-Atlantique department of ...

Publications

* ''Les frairies de la paroisse de Macerac - par le conte Régis de l'Estourbeilon - Inspecteur de la société française d'archéologie'', Nantes 1883 * '' Nominoé, père de la patrie - Marquis de l'Estourbeillon, député du Morbihan, directeur de l'Union régionale bretonne - Rennes MCMXII'' * ''Le droit des langues et la liberté des peuples'', Saint-Brieuc, 1919 *''La Nation bretonne - Conférence sur l'histoire de Bretagne - par Mr de l'Estoubeillon, ancien député du Morbihan, président de l'ORB - 8 septembre 1924'' * ''L'Ame de la Bretagne , ses légitimes revendications, rapport présenté par mr de l'Estroubeillon, ancien député au congrès de l'A.N.O. le samedi 20 mai 1933'' * ''Pour nos costumes nationaux, la presse seule peut les sauver - Hoël Broërec'h - édité par l'union régionaliste bretonne.''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estourbeillon, Regis de 1858 births 1946 deaths Politicians from Nantes French marquesses Breton Regionalist Union members Popular Liberal Action politicians Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 8th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 11th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of Parliament for Morbihan French military personnel of World War I Knights of the Legion of Honour Order of the Francisque recipients