Athanase Jean
Encyclopedia
Athanase Jean was a French country doctor and writer.
, into a family of winemakers. Having done well at his studies undertaken in Pons
, Saintes
and Rochefort
and ending up specialising in Naval Health, he found himself posted to Guyana
for his military service. It was here that he began practising medicine.
On his return home to France
he was able to complete his university degree. He was subsequently asked by the residents of Rouffiac to become their local doctor, a post he kept until his death on 17 February 1932.
An enthusiastic man and curious about everything, he kept his peasant roots at heart and showed a talent for speaking and writing about the Saintonge
using the local dialect. This resulted in several works, the most relevant and most popular of which was undoubtedly "La Mérine à Nastasie", a comedy in three acts in Saintongeais
, and published under the pseudonym of Yan San Acer (Saint-Acer being the Saintonge name of his birth place, Saint-Césaire ). It was performed for the first time on May 25, 1902 at the Chateau de Mauleon in Rouffiac. On December 4 of the same year it made its début in Paris at the Salle Lancry. It has been reprised on various occasions throughout the twentieth century.
As well as working tirelessly as doctor, he also took part in local government serving on the municipal council
and serving as mayor and councillor for the town of Pons. He worked to promote the revival of the local vineyard after its destruction by phylloxera
, and was instrumental in having a railway station built to serve the village using the receipts from the first performance of his play "La Mérine à Nastasie". He was also responsible for bringing the telephone to the commune.
Like Barthélemy Gautier, well known for his sketches of peasant life, "Doctor Jean" will remain with Evariste Poitevin and Odette Comandon as one of the principal names associated with Saintonge culture.
Le crassou
Rouffiat ! ... Ine minute d'arrêt ! ... Buffez !
Le Piantit de Cadet
Bitounîa boet dau champagne !
Batégail dejhun cheû Richardâ
In voeyage malhureux
Toque et Canul
Le judgement du Bac de Chauveau
His Life
Athanase Jean, better known by the name of Doctor Jean, was born on 24 November 1861 at Saint-Cesaire, Charente-MaritimeCharente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, into a family of winemakers. Having done well at his studies undertaken in Pons
Pons
The pons is a structure located on the brain stem, named after the Latin word for "bridge" or the 16th-century Italian anatomist and surgeon Costanzo Varolio . It is superior to the medulla oblongata, inferior to the midbrain, and ventral to the cerebellum. In humans and other bipeds this means it...
, Saintes
Saintes
Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....
and Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
and ending up specialising in Naval Health, he found himself posted to Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
for his military service. It was here that he began practising medicine.
On his return home to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
he was able to complete his university degree. He was subsequently asked by the residents of Rouffiac to become their local doctor, a post he kept until his death on 17 February 1932.
An enthusiastic man and curious about everything, he kept his peasant roots at heart and showed a talent for speaking and writing about the Saintonge
Saintonge
Saintonge is a small region on the Atlantic coast of France within the département Charente-Maritime, west and south of Charente in the administrative region of Poitou-Charentes....
using the local dialect. This resulted in several works, the most relevant and most popular of which was undoubtedly "La Mérine à Nastasie", a comedy in three acts in Saintongeais
Saintongeais
Saintongeais is a dialect spoken halfway down the western coast of France in the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current départements of Charente and Charente-Maritime as well as in parts of their neighbouring départements of...
, and published under the pseudonym of Yan San Acer (Saint-Acer being the Saintonge name of his birth place, Saint-Césaire ). It was performed for the first time on May 25, 1902 at the Chateau de Mauleon in Rouffiac. On December 4 of the same year it made its début in Paris at the Salle Lancry. It has been reprised on various occasions throughout the twentieth century.
As well as working tirelessly as doctor, he also took part in local government serving on the municipal council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
and serving as mayor and councillor for the town of Pons. He worked to promote the revival of the local vineyard after its destruction by phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
, and was instrumental in having a railway station built to serve the village using the receipts from the first performance of his play "La Mérine à Nastasie". He was also responsible for bringing the telephone to the commune.
Like Barthélemy Gautier, well known for his sketches of peasant life, "Doctor Jean" will remain with Evariste Poitevin and Odette Comandon as one of the principal names associated with Saintonge culture.
List of Works
La Mérine à NastasieLe crassou
Rouffiat ! ... Ine minute d'arrêt ! ... Buffez !
Le Piantit de Cadet
Bitounîa boet dau champagne !
Batégail dejhun cheû Richardâ
In voeyage malhureux
Toque et Canul
Le judgement du Bac de Chauveau