commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
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.department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in central
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 ...
The name of the town (Saint-Benin) comes from the evangelist "Saint-Begnine" who evangelized
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
. Azy is a reference to the Roman military camp which was based in Saint-Benin.
At the time of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, the name was replaced with Azy aux Amognes which was more revolutionary. During this period, most of the town suffered of destructions. This is the case of the church Saint Christophe which was at the place of the current "Café des Arts" (a new church was built in 1830).
Economy
The economy of this small town is currently agriculture and services.
In the past, there were small industrial companies producing iron. Like the other French small towns, Saint-Benin-d'Azy has some wine growers. The production is consumed locally.
Notable people
;The economist and sociologist
Jean Fourastié
Jean Fourastié (; 15 April 1907 in Saint-Benin-d'Azy, Nièvre - 25 July 1990 in Douelle, Lot) was a French civil servant, economist, professor and public intellectual. He coined the expression ''Trente Glorieuses'' ("the glorious thirty ears) ...
His celebrity comes from the invention of the expression «les 30 glorieuses» to qualify the economic situation of European countries after the WW2. He was born in Saint-Benin in 1907.
;The artist
Rosa Bonheur
Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...
Her quality paintings of animals have made her visit Saint-Benin a lot of times. She became a celebrity because of her painting ''Labourage Nivernais''.
Some other personalities can be linked to Saint-Benin-d'Azy, such as Matthieu Poussereau, Paul Vacant or
Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monume ...
.
See also
*
Communes of the Nièvre department
The following is a list of the 309 communes of the Nièvre department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Communes of Nièvre
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