14 Facts About Batisto Bonnet

Batisto Bonnet was a French writer in the Provencal dialect.

Batisto Bonnet is known for his Vie d'enfant, an autobiographical account of his childhood as an illiterate peasant in the rural south of France.

Batisto Bonnet was born on 21 February 1844 in the village of Bellegarde, between Arles and Nimes.

Batisto Bonnet's father was from Arles and his mother from Graveson.

Batisto Bonnet's father was a day-labourer, and Batisto was one of seven children.

Batisto Bonnet had a difficult childhood in a very poor peasant family, in a village among the vines.

Batisto Bonnet later wrote the story of his childhood in his masterpiece Vido d'enfant, which was translated into French as Vie d'enfant by Alphonse Daudet.

Batisto Bonnet spent his military service in Africa, spending five years in the Sahel.

Daudet wrote to him several times inviting him to meet in Paris, but it took six months before Batisto Bonnet could buy a frock coat and waistcoat for the visit.

Batisto Bonnet was a member of the Felibrige in 1897, a literary and cultural association founded by Mistral and other Provencal writers to defend and promote the Provencal or langue d'oc language and literature.

Batisto Bonnet had started to work on Varlet de mas when his wife died in November 1897, and Daudet died a month later.

Batisto Bonnet returned to Bellegarde in 1907, after 36 years in Paris.

Batisto Bonnet created a local magazine, le Midi et le Nord.

Batisto Bonnet lived in Bellegarde for five years, in Bouillargues for five years, then in 1917 settled in Nimes, where he lived in poverty for the rest of his life.