Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1940-1963 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
1 folder
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Louis-Paul Nemo (Roparz Hemon, 1900-1978), Breton writer and scholar, was born in Brest, France, the second of six children. He trained as an English teacher, studying English and History at Leeds University. In 1922, Nemo began writing in Breton; his short story 'An Diouganer' was published in 1923, under the pseudonym Roparz Loeiz Hemon. Soon afterwards, he dropped the Loeiz and signed himself Roparz Hemon; this became his name within the Breton nationalist movement. He launched the literary journal Gwalarn with Olier Mordrel in 1925. During the Nazi Occupation, he was appointed Director of Radio-Rennes and the station began regular broadcasts in Breton. This ended with the Allied invasion of France in 1944, and the French government accused many Breton nationalists of collaboration with the Germans. Together with other Breton nationalists he was sentenced to ten years 'indignite nationale'. Under restrictions, he moved to Ireland, where he worked at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. Despite a general amnesty, he decided to remain in Ireland. He published La Langue Bretonne et ses Combats (La Baule, 1947). Despite spending forty years in exile he was an influential figure in Breton cultural affairs and part of his campaign for oral literature was the increasing emphasis he placed on the theatre. From 1945 to 1971 he published seventeen plays. He attended the Celtic Congress in Bangor, Wales, in 1949, during which the Breton branch of the Celtic Congress was established. He died in 1978 and was buried in Brest.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Anonymous donation per Mr Iwan Wmffre, Galway University, Ireland, March 2001.; A2001/11
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Copies of letters, 1941-1942, to Rene Le Roux ('Meven Mordiern') from Roparz Hemon and Guillaume Berthou ('Guillaume B. Kerverziou'), relating to the establishment of a standardised orthography of Modern Breton, and formerly in the possession of Armand Keravel; together with copies of documents and correspondence, 1940-1963, relating to Keravel, including letters from Yann Fouere and Joseph Martray.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Accruals are possible
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restriction
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply
Language of material
- Breton
- French
Script of material
Language and script notes
Breton; French
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Originals of the letters and documents are believed to have been deposited by Andre Le Mercier at the Centre Documentaire, Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique, Universite de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Preferred citation: NLW Facs 947
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Le Roux, René, 1878-1949 (Subject)
- Keravel, Armand, 1910-1999 (Subject)
- Berthou, Guillaume, 1908-1951 (Subject)
- Martray, Joseph, 1914- (Subject)
- Fouéré, Yann (Subject)