Pourrat, Henri 1887-1959

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POURRAT, Henri 1887-1959

PERSONAL:

Born May 7, 1887, in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France; died July 17, 1959, in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, France. Education: Attended a lycée in Paris before studying agriculture.

CAREER:

Novelist.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Le Prix de Figaro, for the first volume of Gaspard des Montagnes, 1921; Grand Prix du Roman, for Gaspard des Montagnes, 1931; Goncourt Prize, for Vent de Mars, 1941

WRITINGS:

Les Jardins Sauvages: La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Jean-François Angeli, Nouvelle Revue Française (Paris, France), 1923.

Les Vaillances, Farces, et Gentillesses de Gaspard des Montagnes: A la Belle Bergère, ou, Quand Gaspard de Guerre Revint (novel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1925.

La Fontaine au Boit Dormant (novel), Les Cahiers de Paris (Paris, France), 1926.

Le Mauvais Garcon (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1926.

Les Vaillances, Farces, et Gentillesses de Gaspard des Montagnes: Le Pavillon des Amourettes, ou, Gaspard et les Bourgeois d'Ambert (novel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1930.

Le Bosquet Pastoral (novel), Nouvelle Revue Française (Paris, France), 1931.

Les Vaillances, Farces, et Gentillesses de Gaspard des Montagnes: La Tour du Levant, ou, Quand Gaspard Mit Fin à l'Histoire (novel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1931.

La Grande Cabale: Les Sorciers du Canton (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1933.

Monts et Merveilles (novel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1934.

Die alten papiermuhlen in der Auvergne, translated by Armin Renker, H. Reichner (Vienna, Austria), 1936.

Le Secret des Compagnons (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1937.

Ceux d'Auvergne, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1939.

Georges, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1941.

L'Homme à la Bêche, Histoire du Paysan, Flammarion (Paris, France), 1941.

Vent de Mars (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 1941.

Le Blé de Noël, Sagittaire (Marseille, France), 1942.

Le Chef Français, R. Laffont (Marseille, France), 1942.

Dans l'Herbe des Trois Vallées, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1943.

La Maison-Dieu, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1944.

Sous le Pommier: Les Proverbes de la Terre, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1945.

La Bienheureuse Passion, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1946.

Contes des Montagnes, Mame (Tours, France), 1946.

Histoire Fidèle de la Bête en Gévaudan, Éditions de l'Épervier, 1946.

Toucher Terre, Éditions de la Cigales (Uzés, France), 1946.

Le Trésor des Contes, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1948.

Les Vaillances, Farces, et Aventures de Gaspard des Montagnes, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1948.

L'École Buissonnière, Nouvelle Édition (Paris, France), 1949.

Le Loup-Garou et Sa Bande, V. Attinger (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), 1949.

L'Homme à la Peau de Loup, V. Attinger (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), 1950.

Le Sage et son Démon, translation by Édouard des Places, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1950.

Le Chasseur de la Nuit (novel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1951.

Conté sous l'Alisier, P. Fanlac (Périgueux, France), 1951.

Saints de France, Boivin (Paris, France), 1951.

Batailles et Brigandages en Auvergne, et en Bourbonnais, Berry, Limousin, Poitou, Rouergue, Quercy, Velay, Forez, et Lyonnais, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1952.

En Auvergne, les Limagnes, les Dôme, les Monts du Forez et du Livradois, B. Arthaud (Paris, France), 1952.

A Treasury of French Tales, Allen & Unwin (London, England), 1953; translated by Mary Mian, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1954.

L'Exorciste, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1954.

Ma Maison Manque de Prières, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1954.

Europe et Paradis: Lausanne, Genève, Neuchâtel, Berne, Fribourg, Sion (travel), A. Michel (Paris, France), 1955.

Contes du Fraisier Sauvage, illustrated by Romain Simon, Éditions Bias (Paris, France), 1956.

The Roquefort Adventure, translated from the French by Mary Mian, illustrated by Yves Brayer, wood engraving by Gérard Angiolini, Societe anonyme des caves et des producteurs reunis de Roquefort, 1956, published as L'Aventure de Roquefort, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1958.

Histoire des Gens dans les Montagnes du Centre, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1959.

Contes des Grands Bois, Editions Bias (Paris, France), 1960.

Le Temps qu'il fait, A. Michel (Paris, France), 1960.

Le Château des Loups, illustrated by Paul Ordner, Editions Bias (Paris, France), 1961.

Châteaux en Auvergne, J. Delmas (Paris, France), 1963.

Contes du Temps de Noël, chosen by Michel Chrestien, illustrated by Jean Pierre Eizikman, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1966.

La Véritable Histoire de France, M. Morin (Paris, France), 1968.

(Author of preface) Lucien Gachon, Maria (novel), afterword by Ferdinand Brossel, illustrated by J.-mario Pérouse, G. de Bussac, 1969.

Contes du vieux-vieux temps, chosen and prefaced by Michel Chrestien, Le Livre de poche (Paris, France), 1970.

Légends du Pays Vert, Subervie (Rodez, France), 1974.

La Queue de Diable: Contes des Malicieux et du Malin, proposed by Jacqueline and Raoul Dubois, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1974.

Le Diable et ses Diableries, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1977.

Les Brigands, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1978.

Au Village, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1979.

Sur la Route des Hauts Jardins, presentation and notes by Gilbert Guisan, with Doris Jakubec, Etudes de letters (Lausanne, Switzerland), 1979.

(Presenter and annotator) Mémoires de la Mére Micolon: 1592-1659, [Clermont-Ferrand, Francersqb;, 1981.

Les Amours, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1981.

Correspondance Henri Pourrat, Charles Silvestre, edited by Claude Dalet, preface by Claire Pourrat, Centre Henri Pourrat (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1983.

Les Fées, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1983.

Le Bestiaire, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1986.

Les Fous et les Sages, under the direction of Claire Pourrat, Gallimard (Paris, France), 1986.

Henri Pourrat, 7 mai 1887-16 juillet 1959: Sa Vie et son Oeuvre, Centre Régional de documentation pédagogique (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1987.

De L'Auvergne à l'Argentine, La Bibliothèque (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1988.

Contes et Récits du Livradois, Maisonneuve et Larose (Paris, France), 1989.

French Folktales from the Collection of Henri Pourrat, selected by C. G. Bjurstrom, translated with an introduction by Royall Tyler, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1989.

Centenaire de la Naissance d'Henri Pourrat, under the direction of Claude Dalet and Jean-Michel Guittard, Centre Henri Pourrat (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1990.

Correspondance Henri Pourrat—Lucien Gachon du 18 janvier 1928 au 29 décembre 1933, edited by Claude Dalet, Centre Henri Pourrat (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1993.

Correspondance Henri Pourrat—Lucien Gachon du 21 janvier 1934 au 15 décembre 1939, Centre Henri Pourrat (Clermont-Ferrand, France), 1994.

Légends d'Auvergne, Editions de Borée (Cournon d'Auvergne, France), 1994.

SIDELIGHTS:

French author Henri Pourrat was born in 1887, in the town of Ambert, Puy-du-Dôme, France, in the Auvergne region. His father was an Indian who chose to convert to Catholicism, and his mother a French farmwoman. Most of his life was spent in Ambert, the quiet town suiting both his delicate health and his inclination. He was greatly affected by the region, and both the landscapes and the earthy, common-man existence of the inhabitants are reflected in much of his writing.

A prolific novelist, Pourrat won the Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française in 1931 for his work, Les Vaillances, Farces et Gentillesses de Gaspard des Montagnes, a four-volume novel that he wrote between 1922 and 1931. The story takes place in the Auvergne during Napoleon's reign. Pourrat also won the Prix de Figaro for the first volume of the Gaspard books, and the Goncourt Prize in 1941 for Vent de Mars.

Pourrat had a life-long love of folktales, and collected them in several volumes. Pourrat collected thousands of folktales from his native region in order to preserve the local folklore. Referring to French Folktales, Robin McKinley, writing for the New York Times Book Review, commented, "Perhaps this engaging book's strongest attraction is its sense of location, and of a people who have long held their beliefs—and their stories—in common." McKinley did not agree with all the choices for the volume, noting of "Mary-in-the-Ashes," a retelling of "Cinderella," that "not only is this mediocre story the second one in the book, but it is singled out in the introduction by the translator … as an example of Pourrat's cleverness, and it gets the book off to a bad start. This Cinderella is not only affected but boring." She did enjoy the majority of the stories, however, citing the excellent translation and praising the language. McKinley concluded that the book is "delectable," and gives the reader "glimpses into the workings of all human life." Contes du Temps de Noël is a collection of Christmas stories, also gathered from the peasants of the Auvergne region. Mildred Larson, in a review for Booklist, called the stories "humorous" and "tender," praising both characterization and the clever plot twists. All together, Pourrat published twelve volumes of folktales by the time of his death, the grouping referred to as Trésor des Contes.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 1977, Mildred Larson, review of Contes du Temps de Noël, p. 487; September 1, 1989, John Brosnahan, review of French Folktales, p. 10.

Library Journal, October 1, 1989, Danielle Mihram, review of French Folktales, pp. 94-94.

New York Times Book Review, December 24, 1989, Robin McKinley, "Little Roast Pigs in the Street," review of French Folktales.