Nostradamus

A doctor and an astrologer, Michel de Nostredame was born in Saint Remy on 14th December 1503 in a comfortable residence (of which parts can still be seen today) in the center of town. He was given the nickname “Nostradamus” (“we give what is ours”) while attending the university of Montpellier. All his life he would be surrounded by culture and science. Nostradamus studied medicine in Montpellier and took a keen interest in the ideas and the discoveries of the Renaissance period. He helped fight the plague in Marseilles and Aix en Provence. The recent invention of the printing press allowed him to analyze Greek and Latin philosophers, he studied pharmacy with scholars in Turin and discovered the ideas of Luther and Calvin. He met Scalinger and Erasmus. Catherine of Médicis called on his services and was (as was her Court) captivated by his knowledge, his written works and his medicine. Religious unrest and the Inquisition prompted him to move to Salon de Crau where he died in 1566. There, he wrote numerous works such as his Traité des confitures et fardements (Treatise on Preserves, Powder and Paint); this may make us smile nowadays, but in those days it enabled fruit and vegetables to be preserved thus helping prevent scurvy. The most famous of his works is The Centuries which some say is a book of enigmatic predictions. Whether it is or not, it has certainly fired curiosity throughout the ages. It has also been recently proved that Nostradamus, by comparing ancient texts, had found the meaning of certain Egyptian writings well before Champolion. Did he elucidate their secrets too? All of this goes to show the extreme scientific, intellectual and philosophical wealth of a man whose curious and attentive mind was at the service of mankind.

For further information on Nostradamus, we recommend Nostradamus, ses origines, sa vie, son oeuvre, by Dr Edgar Leroy. This very complete book is considered to be a reference on the period by historians and university researchers. It can be bought at the Tourist Information Center in Saint Remy de Provence. Only the French version is available.


Frédéric Mistral, Nobel prizewinner for literature and founder of the Félibrige

Frédéric Mistral was born on 8th March 1830 in Maillane, 6 km from Saint Remy de Provence (his father’s family came from Saint Remy de Provence). He was still quite young when he discovered an interest in poetry and the Provencal language. After being a student, first in Avignon and then in Aix, he planned his poem Mireio. A meeting with Frédéric Mistral in Saint Remy de Provence inspired Charles Gounod to write an opera based on “Mireio” which went on to become world-famous. Frédéric Mistral knew many Provencal poets and writers notably Roumanille, Paul Giéra, Aubanel, Mathieu, Brunet and Tavan. These seven young men founded the Félibrige on 21st May 1854 with the intention of saving the Provencal language. Félibrige comes from the Provencal word “Felibre” meaning a scribe or a scholar. They decided to write a Provencal-French dictionary and published a journal called L’Armana Provençau. Frédéric Mistral won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1904 and wrote numerous poetic works such as Calendau, Lis Isclo d’Or (the golden islands), the Oulivado, Nerto, La Reino Jano, etc. He was also the founder of the Museon Arlaten in Arles. His house in Maillane is now a very moving museum.


Joseph Roumanille, founder of the Félibrige

He was born in Saint Remy in 1818. He was a poet and a journalist and participated in the association of all types of literature in the Provencal language, resulting in the publication of an anthology of works by various authors under the title of Li Prouvençalo. He drew up the principles of the new Provencal spelling and was a founder member of the Félibrige along with Frédéric Mistral. They were the two first “Capouliè” and remain so until their deaths. Joseph Roumanille organized the Félibrige movement, he was a bookseller, an editor and a central character in the development of Provencal culture.


Marie Gasquet

Marie Gasquet (1872-1960) was the daughter of the Provencal poet Marius Girard. An exceptionally beautiful and cultivated woman, she was elected queen of the Félibrige in 1892. She was a book collection manageress with Flammarion in Paris and a well-known novelist. The most famous of her novels is no doubt Une enfance provençale (A Provencal childhood). She spent her brilliant life in French literary circles and was a fascinating speaker. Her novels are currently being discovered by the younger generation.


Charles Mauron

Charles Mauron was a great philosopher and it was he who invented psychological criticism as a form of literary analysis. He was a man of great intellect, as much at ease with science as with literature. He was a writer and a critic, a poet and a philosopher, who was as at home in English as in French or Provencal. He conducted extended research and made startling discoveries that let him better understand authors and their texts. He examined the parallel between their writings and their own lives. Charles Mauron was a remarkable translator of English authors; he is particularly known for his translation of The seven pillars of wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. He participated in English publications, gave conferences in London, Cambridge and Oxford. His work on Beauty in art and literature (published in English) combined art, literature and psychology. His writings in French and Provencal include Poèmes en prose and philosophical essays such as Sagesse de l’eau and L’homme triple. He was a doctor of the University of Aix and mayor of Saint Remy de Provence. He left behind him the memory of an open-minded person who respected his fellow man.


Marie Mauron, the “Provencal Colette”

Marie-Antoinette Roumanille was born on 5th April 1896 and wrote under the name of Marie Mauron. She left behind her a life’s work of great poetic sensitivity. Sometimes (rightly) compared to Jean Bosco, Marie Mauron told tales of rural life in Provence with great affection. She won the Prix de l’Académie Française for Mes grandes heures de Provence. Her major novels are set in Provence and Saint Remy and include Le Quartier Mortisson, Mont Paôn, Charloun Rieu, Le Royaume errant.


Charles Galtier

Charles Galtier was the curator of the Musée Frédéric Mistral in Maillane for many years and a researcher with the CNRS (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique). Charles Galtier writes extremely rich poetry, plays and literature in Provencal. Over a hundred tales, plays, short stories and research articles can be credited to this highly cultivated man who is so sensitive to the Latin spirit of Provence.


Marcel Bonnet

Marcel Bonnet has many friends among the Provencal writers and artists, and, among other things, he is the driving force behind the “l’Escolo dis Aupiho”. Besides this, he also helped start the Groupement d’Etudes Provençales whose purpose is to collect material and to pursue historic research. He has written a number of works on the history and rural culture of Saint Remy and Provence.


Maurice Pezet

Maurice Pezet was an historian, a philosopher, a poet and a writer. He lived in Eygalières and has written a large number of works on Provence, the Arles region and the Alpilles.