Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [18 cent.]-[19 cent.] (accumulated [1948]-1973) (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
0.067 cubic metres (3 boxes)
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
Apart from no. 15 (given to Roparz Hemon by Father A. Calvez of Lannion), the manuscripts belonged to the Breton scholar, Emile Ernault of Saint-Brieuc. After his death, they were acquired by Father L. Le Floc'h, parish priest of Louannac, who gave them to Roparz Hemon. Most of them (nos 1-11) were collected in the nineteenth century by J. M. Lejean. They formed part of the collection of Leon Bureau of Nantes.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited by The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies per the late Professor David Greene, MA, in 1981.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Twenty two Breton manuscripts, comprising religious plays and sermons, [18 cent.]-[19 cent.], acquired by Roparz Hemon, and listed in Revue Celtique V, pp. 327-8.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
All records deposited at the National Library of Wales have been retained.
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
System of arrangement
Arranged into plays and sermons.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- Breton
Script of material
Language and script notes
Breton.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
March 2003.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
The following sources were used for the preparation of the description: NLW annual report 1980/81, p. 75; NLW, Schedule of Roparz Hemon Manuscripts; NLW, Schedule of Roparz Hemon Papers; National Library of Wales Journal, vol. 32, no. 2 (2001); Sylvia Morgan, Roparz Hemon and the Breton cultural movement in the twentieth century (D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford, 1979)
Archivist's note
Compiled by Seri Crawley for the ANW Project.