Joseph Roumanille

Roumanille, Joseph 

Born Aug. 8, 1818, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence; died May 24, 1891, in Avignon. Provençal writer.

In 1847, Roumanille published the verse collection The Daisies, consisting of short bucolic poems, legends, and fabliaux. He edited and published the anthology Proven ç als (1852) and in 1854 became a founding member of the poetic movement known as the Félibrige.

Roumanille’s poetry in the volume Minor Works in Verse (1864) is permeated with religious emotion, didacticism, and love of the past. In his political articles and pamphlets, collected in Minor Works in Prose (1859), Roumanille defended Catholicism and legitimism. He helped create modern literary Provençal and wrote a Provençal grammar in collaboration with F. Mistral. Roumanille’s Tales (1884), which are unpretentious, graceful, and written with true brilliance, made him known as the father of Provençal prose.

REFERENCES

Solov’ev, S. V. Ocherki iz istorii frantsuzskoi i provansal’skoi literatury. St. Petersburg, 1914. Pages 217, 221–26, 238–39.
Ripert, E. G. Roumanille: Polémiste catholique. Paris, 1948.
Garavini, F. L’Empèri dóu Soulèu. Milan-Naples, 1967. (Contains bibliography.)
Dumas, R. Les Années de formation de J. Roumanille, 1818–48. Thèse. [Paris, 1970.] (Contains bibliography.)

N. V. KOTRELEV