View source for Armand Lunel

{{Short description|French writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{more footnotes|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
 | name         = Armand Lunel
 | image        = Armand Lunel 25 mars 1920.jpg
 | caption      = Lunel, 25 March 1920, at his wedding
 | occupation   = Writer
 | birth_date   = {{birth date|1892|6|9|df=yes}}
 | birth_place  = [[Aix-en-Provence]], Bouches-du-Rhône, France
 | death_date   = {{death date and age|1977|11|3|1892|6|9|df=yes}}
 | death_place  = [[Monaco]]
 | language     = French and [[Judeo-Provençal]]
 | awards       = [[Prix Renaudot]] (1926)
 | notableworks = ''[[Nicolo-Peccavi]]''
}}
'''Armand Lunel''' ({{IPA|fr|aʁmɑ̃ lynɛl}}; 9 June 1892 – 3 November 1977) was a French writer of [[Provence|Provençal]] [[Jewish]] background.

==Biography==
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
Lunel was born in [[Aix-en-Provence]], France, to a family that belonged to a Jewish subculture that had roots in the area for at least five centuries. After growing up in the region, Lunel taught law and philosophy in [[Monaco]].

Lunel wrote extensively about the [[Papal Jews|Jews of Provence]]. Though often referred to as the last known speaker of [[Judeo-Provençal]], he did not actually speak it; at most, he learned a few words and sentences from his great-grandparents.{{sfn|Nahon|2023|p=177–179}}

He was a childhood friend of the composer [[Darius Milhaud]], and wrote the librettos of Milhaud's operas ''Esther de Carpentras'' ("Esther of [[Carpentras]]," 1938, based on Judeo-Provençal folklore),  ''Les malheurs d'Orphée'' ("The Misfortunes of Orpheus," 1924), and ''[[David (Milhaud)|David]]'' (1954). He also provided the libretto for Henri Sauguet's ''[[La chartreuse de Parme (opera)|La chartreuse de Parme]]'', premiered in 1939.

He married Rachel Suzanne Messiah (1892–1981), a daughter of architect [[Aaron Messiah]], in 1920.

Most of the current knowledge about Lunel was collected by his son-in-law Georges Jessula.

==Bibliography==
*''L'Imagerie du cordier'', [[La Nouvelle Revue Française]], Paris, 1924.
*''Nicolo-Peccavi'' ou ''L'[[Dreyfus affair|affaire Dreyfus]] à [[Carpentras]]'', Gallimard, Paris, 1926.
*''Le Balai de sorcière'', [[Gallimard]], Paris, 1935.
*''Jérusalem à Carpentras'', Gallimard, 1937.
*''Les Amandes d'Aix'', Gallimard, Paris, 1949.
*''La Belle à la fontaine'', A. Fayard, Paris, 1959.
*''J'ai vu vivre la Provence'', A. Fayard, Paris, 1962.
*''Juifs du Languedoc, de la Provence et des [[Avignon|États français du Pape]]'', [[éditions Albin Michel|Albin Michel]], Paris, 1975. Translated by Samuel N. Rosenberg as "The Jews of the South of France" (with a foreword by David A. Jessula), Cincinnati: Hebrew University College ''Annual'' 89 (2018), pp.&nbsp;1–158.
*''Les Chemins de mon judaïsme et divers inédits'', presented by Georges Jessula, L'Harmattan, Paris, 1993.

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Nahon|first=Peter|year=2023|title=Les parlers français des israélites du Midi|publisher=Éditions de linguistique et de philologie|location=Strasbourg}}.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311033816/http://www.bh.org.il/Names/POW/lunel.asp Armand Lunel] at [[Beit Hatefutsot]], the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in [[Ramat Aviv]], Israel
*[http://thejewniverse.com/2014/the-last-man-who-spoke-provences-dead-jewish-language/ "The Last Man Who Spoke Provence's Dead Jewish Language"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140601004311/http://thejewniverse.com/2014/the-last-man-who-spoke-provences-dead-jewish-language/ |date=1 June 2014 }}

{{Prix Renaudot}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunel, Armand}}
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:20th-century French Jews]]
[[Category:French opera librettists]]
[[Category:Jewish novelists]]
[[Category:Prix Renaudot winners]]
[[Category:Writers from Aix-en-Provence]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:French male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century French dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]

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