Félibrige


The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Provençal language and literature. It is presided over by a capoulié.

Etymology

The word ' is derived from ', a Provençal word meaning pupil or follower.

Origins

Le Félibrige was founded at the Château de Font-Ségugne on 21 May 1854, by seven young Provençal poets: Théodore Aubanel, Jean Brunet, Paul Giéra, Anselme Mathieu, Frédéric Mistral, Joseph Roumanille and Alphonse Tavan. Together, they aimed to restore the Provençal language and codify its orthography.
Its symbol is a seven-pointed star which, as Frederic Mistral writes in Lou tresor dóu Felibrige, is "a tribute to its seven founders".
The movement was launched in Provence but quickly reached the entire Occitania. It spread among Occitanian writers such as Michel Camélat and Simin Palay, Albert Arnavielle, Justin Bessou, Jacques and Gabriel Azaïs and Achille Mir, Arsène Vermenouze, Joseph Roux, José Mange, Brémonde de Tarascon, Batisto Bonnet and Charles Maurras.
The Félibrige is an organisation focussed on protecting and promoting Occitan language and culture, fighting for recognition of cultural diversity both within France and across the wider world. It is also one of the two organisations represented across Occitania since 1945, along with the Institut d'Estudis Occitans.

Felebrigian festivals

There is a yearly meeting, Santo Estello, held in a different town in the Pays d'Oc. The traditional banquet is ended with the ritual of the Copa Santa.
There are also other Fêtes Félibréennes:
In 1950 Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine was named Cité Félibréenne. A memorial garden for this event was created around the tomb of Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, a French poet and romancier, well known for his fables and a noted Félibrigist. The garden displays eleven busts in all.
The garden is located behind the church of Saint Jean-Baptiste in Sceaux. The entry, signed: Parc de Sceaux, Jardin des Félibres is located on Avenue du Président Franklin Roosevelt in Sceaux.

''Capouliés'' of the Félibrige

The Félibrige is presided over by a .