Ernest Renan was one of the most profound and fruitful scholars of his time, and perhaps the most daring. His Life of Jesus (1863) , which initiated a scientific approach to the beginnings of Christianity, through philology, history and archaeology, made the effect of a bomb. Lover of ancient languages as much as of the Celtic language that he spoke fluently, to be born in Tréguier, he is also famous (and still read with care) for his essay What is a nation? (1882)
It marks Brittany with its memory in two beautiful houses both labeled "Houses of the Illustres" by the Ministry of Culture. That of Tréguier, house of his childhood, became his museum. All the information about the commemorations are gathered on the website of France Mémoire (see the link at the bottom of our article).
The origins of an extremely brilliant student
On February 27, 1823, at Tréguier in the Côtes-d'Armor, Ernest Renan was born into an empty family. His father, a convinced sailor and republican, married the daughter of royalist traders who settled in nearby Lannion. From an early age, Ernest Renan was rocked by the respective political and religious opinions of his parents. He was barely five years old when his father drowned at sea off Erquy. Henriette, her 12-year-old sister, became the moral head of the family.
A free spirit, a scholarship student at the school of the Lannion Brothers and then at the Petit Séminaire de Tréguier, Ernest Renan impressed his teachers. They very early noticed his intellectual abilities and saw him as a future man of the Church. In 1838, at the age of 15, he completed his college with many awards of excellence. Henriette, who had become a teacher in Paris, offered to join her.
Here he is enrolled in the Seminary of Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet. More than philosophy and theology, it is philology (the historical study of a language through the critical analysis of texts) that interests Ernest Renan. He is passionate about ancient languages and, in addition to Greek and Latin, learns Hebrew and Syriac. The study of ancient texts shakes the faith of Ernest Renan, who begins to question the Bible as a revealed book. This did not prevent him from receiving the tonsure on 23 December 1843. But five years later he definitively gave up his ecclesiastical career and preferred to become a teacher, before being appointed in charge of mission in Italy to study Greek and Oriental manuscripts.
Thought and work of a "lay saint" of the IIIe Republic
At the same time writer, philosopher, historian and philologist, he is the author of works that examine the Gospels in the light of a scientific criticism that scandalizes the clergy and the royalist Catholic right. A respected scholar throughout Europe, Renan receives all the honours: he is a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres, professor at the Collège de France, academician and officer of the Légion d'honneur.
Philologist particularly proficient in Semitic languages, after having abandoned the ecclesiastical state, he is twice laureate of the Institute; professor of Hebrew at the Collège de France in 1862, he published in 1863 Life of Jesus, his capital work, which raises extraordinary polemics. Many attacks or defences of this work appear in France and abroad; the pope calls it the "European blasphemer", hostile demonstrations occur at the Collège de France, bringing the suspension of its course. The imperial government offered him as compensation the administration of the National Library which he refused. After the regime changes following the war of 1870, Ernest Renan was reinstated in his chair and elected administrator of the Collège de France in 1883 where he was re-elected every three years. A member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres since 1856, he was also elected to the Académie française on 13 June 1878 to replace Claude Bernard.
Among other works often cited, his famous Prayer on the Acropolis is actually Chapter II of its Childhood and youth memories published in 1883. Ernest Renan evokes the discovery he made of Greece during a trip in 1865. Prayer on the Acropolis In 1899, it was the subject of a sumptuous publication illustrated by compositions by H. Bellery-Desfontaines and printed in 400 copies for the 1900 World Exposition. The short text was republished in Paris in 1920 by the bookstore F. Ferroud. The illustrations of Serge de Solomko are one of the wonders of the French edition of this period.
Illustration by Serge Solomko for Prayer on the Acropolis, by Ernest Renan © Coll. Larbor-DR Archives
The statue of the scientist sculpted by Jean Boucher, erected in 1903 place du Martray in Tréguier, is inspired by this text by presenting it in a sitting position, dominated by the statue of Athena, symbolizing the free Thought.
Attachment to Breton roots
Ernest Renan left Brittany and his native Trégor at the age of 15. After completing his studies in Paris, he has the opportunity to travel around Europe and discover Italy, Greece and Sweden. He did not return regularly to Brittany until the mid 1880s. Fluent in Breton, he did not forget his roots and published in 1854 The Breton Soul. Ernest Renan, who wishes to reconnect with his origins since his return to his hometown of Tréguier in 1868 on the occasion of his mother’s burial, accepts, encouraged by Narcisse Quellien, to be among the founding members of the Celtic Society and of dinners associated with it. The Celtic Society is open to the Bretons of France and the English Channel as to the simple friends of Celtic studies. In fact, the first Celtic Dinners held monthly in Paris brought together mainly Breton and Celtic philologists. It was under his presidency that the first Celtic Dinner took place in 1878-1879 at the Alençon café opposite the Montparnasse station. In 1880 he became honorary president for life.
From 1885 to 1892, Ernest Renan returned to spend his summers in Brittany at Rosmapamon, a beautiful residence he rented at Louannec, near Perros-Guirec.
The summer residence of Rosmapamon and the family house of Tréguier: two famous houses
The house of Rosmapamon was built in 1840 on the road from Perros to Louannec. Ernest Renan rented it and stayed there with his family and guests every summer for eight years, from 1885 until September 18, 1892. The label "Houses of the Illustrious" was awarded to the manor in 2018. Access to the park is occasionally open to the public, especially during the Rendez-vous aux jardins, a national event held every year in early June.
The bourgeois house of notables of 20 rue Ernest Renan in Tréguier now houses the Ernest Renan Museum managed by the National Monuments Centre (NMC). Built at the end of XVIe century, this house typical of the architecture of the Trégor is acquired in 1780 by the grandparents of the scientist. Ernest Renan left her forever at the age of 15. She became a museum in 1947. In 1992, during the centennial ceremonies of the author’s death, the facade on street receives a decoration of carved wood. The façade on the garden has retained its stone apparatus.
Maison Ernest Renan de Tréguier Garden side
Commemorations of February 28
The Renan Committee announces two highlights: on February 28, a large delegation will visit the writer’s house. The afternoon will be dedicated to a conference organized in the hall of honour of the city hall of Tréguier hosted by François Hartog, historian and university professor, at 2:30 pm, open to the public and free.
An international symposium dedicated to Ernest Renan will be held on 30 June and 1 July 2023 at the Théâtre de l'Arche where fifteen academics, selected by the Renan Committee, will speak on the theme “Renan, between Earth and Sea”. On the sidelines of this conference, Paul Barge, a Trégorrois actor, will read texts (on Friday at 6:30 p.m.) and the Cheap Cie, in the person of Anne Huonnic, will stage Renan’s life between her mother and sister; an unpublished play, pure creation written by a local child.
To pay homage to the writer Trégorrois, on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth, thirteen students in graphic design of the Lycée Savina de Tréguier, showcase four of his theatrical works in partnership with the National Monuments Centre and create posters using several engraving techniques. Their work presented a year in the family house of the scientist is to be discovered from June 2023.
Partager la page