> Anthropologists and ethnographers 


Hersart de La Villemarqué, Théodore (1815-1895)

Coordinated by Fañch Postic -

CRBC, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest.

Born in Quimperlé (Britanny, France), Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué (1815-1895) began collecting Breton songs around 1833-1834, which he used to create his Barzaz-Breiz (1839). The 1867 reissue gave rise to fierce controversy over the authenticity of the songs in the collection: this was the “Barzaz-Breiz quarrel” which, long after La Villemarqué’s death, pitted his supporters against his critics. La Villemarqué was very interested in the history and literature of the Celtic countries and is the author of many other works.

Keywords: Linguist/Philologist | Second half of the 19th century | Second quarter of the 19th century | Brittany | Celtic studies | Folk poetry