Charles de Gaulle (poet)
Encyclopedia
Charles Jules-Joseph de Gaulle (January 31, 1837 – January 1, 1880) was a French
writer who was a pioneer of Pan-Celticism
and the bard
ic revival. He is also known as Charlez Vro-C'hall, the Breton language
version of his name. He was the uncle of General de Gaulle
.
, Nord, de Gaulle was struck by a progressive paralyzing illness from his early youth. He turned to scholarship and began a study the Celtic languages after reading Barzaz Breiz
(Ballads of Brittany) at the age of sixteen. He learned Breton, Welsh and Gaelic, but never visited a Celtic-speaking country, being confined to his apartment in Paris. Having met Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué, author of Barzaz Breiz, he became secretary of Breuriez Breiz, a society of Breton poets in Paris. From 1864 he started to publish articles on Celtic culture, especially Brittany, and poetry in the Breton language.
However, as his disease progressed, his publications became increasingly scarce. His literary activity gradually ceased, but he retained until the end his lucidity of mind and was able to follow the progress of his favourite studies. He died at the age of 42.
De Gaulle insisted that Celtic countries must retain their languages to avoid cultural extinction, asserting that "so long as a conquered people speaks another language than the conquerors, the best part of them is still free". He also proposed a Celtic Union that would establish and develop links between Celtic countries. There should also be a Celtic "esperanto" to facilitate communication and which would be created from common elements in all Celtic languages.
De Gaulle wrote to cultural leaders in Wales, Scotland and Ireland to organise a Pan-Celtic congress in Saint-Brieuc
in 1867, which he succeeded in pushing through despite opposition from the French government. Unable to travel, he wrote the poem Da Varsez Breiz (With Bards of Brittany) in Breton, including the lines:
E Paris va c'horf zo dalc'het
Med daved hoc'h nij va spered
Vel al labous, aden askel,
Nij de gaout he vreudeur a bell
(In Paris my body is held
But towards you my spirit flies,
Swftly like a bird,
To meet his far away brothers.)
, because its French language tradition distinguished it from the English-dominated majority of Canada.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
writer who was a pioneer of Pan-Celticism
Pan-Celticism
Pan-Celticism is the name given to various political and cultural movements and organisations that promote greater contact between the Celtic nations.-Types of Pan-Celticism:Pan-Celticism can operate on one or all of the following levels listed below:...
and the bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
ic revival. He is also known as Charlez Vro-C'hall, the Breton language
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
version of his name. He was the uncle of General de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
.
Life
Born in ValenciennesValenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
, Nord, de Gaulle was struck by a progressive paralyzing illness from his early youth. He turned to scholarship and began a study the Celtic languages after reading Barzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz is a collection of Breton popular songs collected by Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and published in 1839. It was compiled from oral tradition and preserves traditional folk tales, legends and music...
(Ballads of Brittany) at the age of sixteen. He learned Breton, Welsh and Gaelic, but never visited a Celtic-speaking country, being confined to his apartment in Paris. Having met Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué, author of Barzaz Breiz, he became secretary of Breuriez Breiz, a society of Breton poets in Paris. From 1864 he started to publish articles on Celtic culture, especially Brittany, and poetry in the Breton language.
However, as his disease progressed, his publications became increasingly scarce. His literary activity gradually ceased, but he retained until the end his lucidity of mind and was able to follow the progress of his favourite studies. He died at the age of 42.
Pan-Celticism
De Gaulle dreamed of the resurrection of the Celtic languages as vehicles for high culture. A devout Catholic and monarchist, de Gaulle saw Celtic countries as guardians of tradition and proposed a restoration of Breton political autonomy, providing a model for later Breton nationalists. In 1864 he wrote an appeal to the current representatives of the "Celtic race", proposing Celtic festivals:If I am allowed to express a wish - as yet most ambitious, doubtless difficult to accomplish - it would be to see a new religious order, or at least, a special division of a former religious order, to devote, under the invocation of old saints, wise men from both Britains [The British Isles and Brittany] to preaching and instruction of youth of all classes in the Celtic countries, and this mainly through indigenous languages...After the celebration of holy sacrifice, in open fields, on an old dolmen, surrounded by the people of neighbouring parishes, the solemnities open with a contest of popular bards... Shooting, wrestling, horse and foot races, regattas at the seaside, would provide a new and useful means of improving our agile and robust youth.
De Gaulle insisted that Celtic countries must retain their languages to avoid cultural extinction, asserting that "so long as a conquered people speaks another language than the conquerors, the best part of them is still free". He also proposed a Celtic Union that would establish and develop links between Celtic countries. There should also be a Celtic "esperanto" to facilitate communication and which would be created from common elements in all Celtic languages.
De Gaulle wrote to cultural leaders in Wales, Scotland and Ireland to organise a Pan-Celtic congress in Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...
in 1867, which he succeeded in pushing through despite opposition from the French government. Unable to travel, he wrote the poem Da Varsez Breiz (With Bards of Brittany) in Breton, including the lines:
E Paris va c'horf zo dalc'het
Med daved hoc'h nij va spered
Vel al labous, aden askel,
Nij de gaout he vreudeur a bell
(In Paris my body is held
But towards you my spirit flies,
Swftly like a bird,
To meet his far away brothers.)
General de Gaulle's 1969 speech
In January 1969, General de Gaulle attempted to use his uncle's reputation in Brittany by declaiming the second quatrain of his uncle's poem Da Varsez Breiz (the lines above) during a speech at Quimper. The speech followed a series of crackdowns on Breton nationalist activists. De Gaulle's use of the poem led to a severe adverse reaction from his audience who drowned out much of the rest of his speech. He was later accused of double standards, having recently spoken in Canada in support of a "free" QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, because its French language tradition distinguished it from the English-dominated majority of Canada.