Pergaud, Louis

(1882-1914)

   writer

   Born in Belmont, Doubs, Louis Pergaud, who was raised in Franche-Comté, where he became a rural schoolteacher, always kept in close touch with the rustic world. Coming to Paris in 1907, he soon became a manager working in the city's fine arts department. His literary career began with his collection of poems, L'Aube (1904), and L'Herbe d'avril (1908). But it was in his plain, fresh, honest, and humorous stories about the animals and people of the countryside that his talent became evident. His stories of animals, De Goupil à Margot (1910) and Le Roman de Miraut, chien de chasse (1913) are sensitive studies of an anthropomorphic animal psychology that is at the heart of his realistic descriptions of rural life. in La Guerre des boutons (brought to the screen in 1936 by Jack Deroy and in 1962 by Yves Robert), Perraud presents in epic verse the struggles of two groups of street children, from two different villages. Pergaud was killed in battle during WORLD WAR I.