Frédéric Mistral
Encyclopedia
Frédéric Mistral was a French
writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral won the Nobel Prize in literature
in 1904 and was a founding member of Félibrige
and a member of l'Académie de Marseille
. He was born in Maillane
in the Bouches-du-Rhône
département in southern France
.
His name in his native language was Frederi Mistral (Mistrau) according to the Mistralian orthography or Frederic Mistral (/Mistrau) according to the classical orthography.
Mistral's fame was owing in part to Alphonse de Lamartine
who sang his praises in the fortieth edition of his periodical "Cours familier de littérature", following the publication of Mistral's long Mirèio poem. He is the most revered writer in Occitan literature.
Alphonse Daudet
, with whom he maintained a long friendship, devoted to the "Poet Mistral" one of his "Lettres de mon moulin
", in an extremely eulogistic way.
Several schools bear Frédéric Mistral's name.
Mistral was the son of wealthy landed farmers (François Mistral and Adelaide Poulinet, both of whom were related to the oldest families of Provence: Cruvelier, Expilly, Roux (originally Ruffo, from Calabria), themselves very closely related to each other; Marquis d'Aurel). Mistral was given the name "Frederi" in memory “of a poor small fellow who, at the time when my parents were courting, sweetly ran their errands of love, and who died shortly afterward of sunstroke.” Mistral did not begin school until he was about nine years, and quickly began to play hooky, leading his parents to send him to a boarding school in Saint-Michel-de-Frigolet, run by a Monsieur Donnat.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in Nîmes, Mistral studied law in Aix-en-Provence
from 1848 to 1851. He became a champion for the independence of Provence, and in particular for restoring the “first literary language of civilized Europe” -- Provençal. He had studied the history of Provence during his time in Aix-en-Provence. Emancipated by his father, Mistral resolved: “to raise, revive in Provence the feeling of race ...; to move this rebirth by the restoration of the natural and historical language of the country ...; to restore the fashion to Provence by the breath and flame of divine poetry”. For Mistral, the word race designates “people linked by language, rooted in a country and in a story”.
For his lifelong efforts in restoring the language of Provence, Frédéric Mistral was one of the recipients of the 1904 Nobel Prize for Literature. The other winner that year, José Echegaray
, was honored for his Spanish dramas. They each received one-half of the total prize money. Mistral devoted his winnings to the creation of the Museum at Arles, known locally as "Museon Arlaten". The museum is considered to be the most important collection of Provençal folk art, displaying furniture, costumes, ceramics, tools and farming implements.
In 1876, Mistral was married to a Burgundian woman, Marie-Louise Rivière (1857–1943) in Dijon Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon). They had no children. The poet died on 25 March 1914 in Maillane, the same village where he was born.
Source : Mes Origines; Mémoires Et Récits De Frédéric Mistral
, and five other Provençal poets and on 21 May 1854, they founded Félibrige
, a literary and cultural association, which made it possible to promote the Occitan language. Placed under the patronage of Saint Estelle, the movement also welcomed Catalan poets from Spain, driven out by Isabelle II.
The seven founders of the organization were (to use their Provençal names): Jóusè Roumaniho, Frederi Mistral, Teodor Aubanel, Ansèume Matiéu, Jan Brunet, Anfos Tavan and Paul Giera. Félibrige exists to this day, one of the few remaining cultural organizationas in 32 departments of the "Langue d'Oc".
Mistral strove to rehabilitate the language of Provence, while carrying it to the highest summits of epic poetry. His works were of the highest quality. He redefined the language in its purest form by creating a dictionary and transcribing the songs of the troubadours, who spoke the language in its original form.
(Mireille), published in 1859, after eight years of creative effort. Mirèio, a long poem in Provençal consisting of twelve songs, tells of the thwarted love of Vincent and Mireille, two young Provençal people of different social means. The name Mireille (Mirèio in Provence) is a doublet of the word meraviho which means wonder.
Mistral uses the occasion not only to promote his language but also to share the culture of an area, speaking about, among other things, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where according to legend the dragon, Tarasque, was driven out, and of the famous and ancient Venus of Arles
. Mistral prefaced his poem with a short notice about Provençal pronunciation. Occitan is unique among the Romance languages in having women's names ending in "o", rather than "a".
The poem tells how Mireille's parents wish her to marry a Provençal landowner, but she falls in love with a poor basket maker named Vincent, who loves her as well. After rejecting three rich suitors, a desperate Mireille, driven by the refusal of her parents to let her marry Vincent, runs off to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to pray to the patrons of Provence to change her parents' minds. Having forgotten to bring a hat, she falls victim to the heat, dying in Vincent's arms under the gaze of her parents.
Mistral dedicated his book to Alphonse Lamartine as follows:
“To Lamartine:
To you, I dedicate Mireille:
It is my heart and my soul;
It is the flower of my years;
It is bunch of grapes from La Crau, leaves and all, a peasant's offering.”
Lamartine wrote enthusiastically: “I will tell you good news today! A great epic poet is born ... A true Homeric poet in our time; ... Yes, your epic poem is a masterpiece; ... the perfume of your book will not evaporate in a thousand years.”
Mirèio was translated into some fifteen European languages, including into French by Mistral himself. In 1863, Charles Gounod
made it into an opera, Mireille
.
“Trees with deep roots grow tall.”
“The five fingers of the hand are not all equal.”
“When the Good Lord comes to doubt about the world, he remembers that he created Provence.”
“Each year, the nightingale dresses with new feathers, but it keeps the same song.”
“The sun appears to set with iridescent ruby tones of topaz in a glass of Tavel. But it is to rise stronger in the hearts.”
“Provence sings, Languedoc fights”
“He who has seen Paris and not Cassis has seen nothing.”
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...
writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral won the Nobel Prize in literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
in 1904 and was a founding member of Félibrige
Félibrige
The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote Occitan language and literature...
and a member of l'Académie de Marseille
Académie de Marseille
The Académie de Marseille is a French learned society from Marseille. It was set up in 1726 and included those in the city involved in the arts, letters and sciences.-External links:*...
. He was born in Maillane
Maillane
Maillane is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France in the former province of Provence.-Geography:...
in the Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
département in southern 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...
.
His name in his native language was Frederi Mistral (Mistrau) according to the Mistralian orthography or Frederic Mistral (/Mistrau) according to the classical orthography.
Mistral's fame was owing in part to Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
who sang his praises in the fortieth edition of his periodical "Cours familier de littérature", following the publication of Mistral's long Mirèio poem. He is the most revered writer in Occitan literature.
Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet
Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist. He was the father of Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet.- Early life :Alphonse Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the bourgeoisie. The father, Vincent Daudet, was a silk manufacturer — a man dogged through life by misfortune...
, with whom he maintained a long friendship, devoted to the "Poet Mistral" one of his "Lettres de mon moulin
Lettres de mon moulin
Letters from My Windmill is a collection of short stories by Alphonse Daudet first published in its entirety in 1869...
", in an extremely eulogistic way.
Several schools bear Frédéric Mistral's name.
Biography
After receiving his bachelor's degree in Nîmes, Mistral studied law in Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
from 1848 to 1851. He became a champion for the independence of Provence, and in particular for restoring the “first literary language of civilized Europe” -- Provençal. He had studied the history of Provence during his time in Aix-en-Provence. Emancipated by his father, Mistral resolved: “to raise, revive in Provence the feeling of race ...; to move this rebirth by the restoration of the natural and historical language of the country ...; to restore the fashion to Provence by the breath and flame of divine poetry”. For Mistral, the word race designates “people linked by language, rooted in a country and in a story”.
For his lifelong efforts in restoring the language of Provence, Frédéric Mistral was one of the recipients of the 1904 Nobel Prize for Literature. The other winner that year, José Echegaray
José Echegaray
José Echegaray y Eizaguirre was a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician, statesman, and one of the leading Spanish dramatists of the last quarter of the 19th century....
, was honored for his Spanish dramas. They each received one-half of the total prize money. Mistral devoted his winnings to the creation of the Museum at Arles, known locally as "Museon Arlaten". The museum is considered to be the most important collection of Provençal folk art, displaying furniture, costumes, ceramics, tools and farming implements.
In 1876, Mistral was married to a Burgundian woman, Marie-Louise Rivière (1857–1943) in Dijon Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon). They had no children. The poet died on 25 March 1914 in Maillane, the same village where he was born.
Source : Mes Origines; Mémoires Et Récits De Frédéric Mistral
Félibrige
Mistral joined forces with one of his teachers, Joseph RoumanilleJoseph Roumanille
Joseph Roumanille was a Provençal poet. He was born at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence , and is commonly known in southern France as the father of the Félibrige, for he first conceived the idea of raising his regional language to the dignity of a literary language.-Biography:Joseph Roumanille was the son...
, and five other Provençal poets and on 21 May 1854, they founded Félibrige
Félibrige
The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote Occitan language and literature...
, a literary and cultural association, which made it possible to promote the Occitan language. Placed under the patronage of Saint Estelle, the movement also welcomed Catalan poets from Spain, driven out by Isabelle II.
The seven founders of the organization were (to use their Provençal names): Jóusè Roumaniho, Frederi Mistral, Teodor Aubanel, Ansèume Matiéu, Jan Brunet, Anfos Tavan and Paul Giera. Félibrige exists to this day, one of the few remaining cultural organizationas in 32 departments of the "Langue d'Oc".
Mistral strove to rehabilitate the language of Provence, while carrying it to the highest summits of epic poetry. His works were of the highest quality. He redefined the language in its purest form by creating a dictionary and transcribing the songs of the troubadours, who spoke the language in its original form.
Lexicography: Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige
Mistral is the author of Lou Tresor dóu Félibrige (1878–1886), which to date remains the most comprehensive dictionary of the Occitan language, and one of the most reliable for the precision of its definitions. It is a bilingual dictionary, Occitan-French, in two great volumes, with all of the dialects of oc, including mistralienne.Mirèio – Mireille
Mistral's most important work is MirèioMirèio
Mirèio is a poem in Occitan by French writer Frédéric Mistral. It was written in 1859.-The plot:In Provence, Mirèio is the daughter of a rich farmer. She is in love with a modest basketmaker, Vincènt. Her father disapproves of the relationship and seeks other suitors. Mirèio, in despair, escapes...
(Mireille), published in 1859, after eight years of creative effort. Mirèio, a long poem in Provençal consisting of twelve songs, tells of the thwarted love of Vincent and Mireille, two young Provençal people of different social means. The name Mireille (Mirèio in Provence) is a doublet of the word meraviho which means wonder.
Mistral uses the occasion not only to promote his language but also to share the culture of an area, speaking about, among other things, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where according to legend the dragon, Tarasque, was driven out, and of the famous and ancient Venus of Arles
Venus of Arles
The Venus of Arles is a sculpture of Venus at the Musée du Louvre. It is in Hymettus marble and dates to the end of the 1st century BC.It may be a copy of the Aphrodite of Thespiae by Praxiteles, ordered by the courtesan Phryne. In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias mentioned the existence at...
. Mistral prefaced his poem with a short notice about Provençal pronunciation. Occitan is unique among the Romance languages in having women's names ending in "o", rather than "a".
The poem tells how Mireille's parents wish her to marry a Provençal landowner, but she falls in love with a poor basket maker named Vincent, who loves her as well. After rejecting three rich suitors, a desperate Mireille, driven by the refusal of her parents to let her marry Vincent, runs off to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to pray to the patrons of Provence to change her parents' minds. Having forgotten to bring a hat, she falls victim to the heat, dying in Vincent's arms under the gaze of her parents.
Mistral dedicated his book to Alphonse Lamartine as follows:
“To Lamartine:
To you, I dedicate Mireille:
It is my heart and my soul;
It is the flower of my years;
It is bunch of grapes from La Crau, leaves and all, a peasant's offering.”
Lamartine wrote enthusiastically: “I will tell you good news today! A great epic poet is born ... A true Homeric poet in our time; ... Yes, your epic poem is a masterpiece; ... the perfume of your book will not evaporate in a thousand years.”
Mirèio was translated into some fifteen European languages, including into French by Mistral himself. In 1863, Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
made it into an opera, Mireille
Mireille (opera)
Mireille is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Michel Carré after Frédéric Mistral's poem Mireio.-Composition history:...
.
Quotations
- « Les arbres aux racines profondes sont ceux qui montent haut. »
- « Les cinq doigts de la main ne sont pas tous égaux. »
- « Quand le Bon Dieu en vient à douter du monde, il se rappelle qu'il a créé la Provence. »
- « Chaque année, le rossignol revêt des plumes neuves, mais il garde sa chanson. »
- « Le soleil semble se coucher dans un verre de Tavel aux tons rubis irisés de topaze. Mais c'est pour mieux se lever dans les cœurs. »
- « La Provence chante, le Languedoc combat »
- « Qui a vu Paris et pas Cassis, n'a rien vu. (Qu'a vist París e non Cassís a ren vist.) »
“Trees with deep roots grow tall.”
“The five fingers of the hand are not all equal.”
“When the Good Lord comes to doubt about the world, he remembers that he created Provence.”
“Each year, the nightingale dresses with new feathers, but it keeps the same song.”
“The sun appears to set with iridescent ruby tones of topaz in a glass of Tavel. But it is to rise stronger in the hearts.”
“Provence sings, Languedoc fights”
“He who has seen Paris and not Cassis has seen nothing.”
Works
- MirèioMirèioMirèio is a poem in Occitan by French writer Frédéric Mistral. It was written in 1859.-The plot:In Provence, Mirèio is the daughter of a rich farmer. She is in love with a modest basketmaker, Vincènt. Her father disapproves of the relationship and seeks other suitors. Mirèio, in despair, escapes...
(1859) - Classical orthography online - Mistralian orthography online - French version - Calendau (1867) - online
- Lis Isclo d’or (1875) - en ligne : part I, part II
- Nerto, short story (1884) - online
- La Rèino Jano, drama (1890) - en ligne
- Lou Pouèmo dóu Rose (1897) - online
- Moun espelido, Memòri e Raconte (Mes mémoires) (1906) - online
- Discours e dicho (1906) - online
- La Genèsi, traducho en prouvençau (1910) - online
- Lis óulivado (1912) - online
- Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige ou Dictionnaire provençal-français embrassant les divers dialectes de la langue d'oc moderne (1878–1886) - online
- Proso d’Armana (posthume) (1926, 1927, 1930) - online
- Coupo SantoCopa SantaLa Coupo Santo , in full La Cansoun de la Coupo in original modern norm Provençal is the anthem of Provence, sung in Provençal one of six Occitan...
(1867)
External links
- Frédéric Mistral Biography
- The life of Frederic Mistral - NotreProvence.fr
- http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3A%28texts%29%20-contributor%3Agutenberg%20AND%20%28subject%3A%22Mistral%2C%20Frederic%2C%201830-1914%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Mistral%2C%20Frederic%2C%201830-1914%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Frederic%20Mistral%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Frederic%20Mistral%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Frederic%20Mistral%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Mistral%2C%20Fre%CC%81de%CC%81ric%2C%201830-1914%22%29Works by or about Frederic Mistral] at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) - The Memoirs of Frédéric Mistral by Frédéric Mistral and George Wickes (1986) English translation of Mistral's autobiography
- Museon Arlaten