A book on the saga of a Châteauneuf family

Jean-Pierre Corbel has a new book on order about the trials and tribulations of his Châteauneuf family: "Guirriec, d'une saga bretonne à une vraie tragédie grecque".

Jean-Pierre Corbel presents his 11th book, "Guirriec d'une saga bretonne à une vraie tragédie grecque" (Guirriec: from Breton saga to Greek tragedy). | OUEST- FRANCE

Jean-Pierre Corbel, visual photographer, has been teaching applied arts, design and plastic arts since 2004, following a 30-year career as a photographer. He has exhibited his photographs on several themes on more than 150 occasions, both in France and abroad. He made a name for himself with his Voyage dans la Lumière concept. "I exhibited my work 11 times at the Salon des Artistes Français, at the Grand Palais in Paris, from 2004 to 2011."

For his artistic work, he was awarded the Prix Louis Lumière, followed by the Salon's Medal of Honor in 2011. To date, he is the only Breton to have received this distinction.

Family history from 1880 to 1911

But in addition to photography, Jean Pierre Corbel has another passion: writing and sharing his discoveries about his family, "as a duty of remembrance".

He presents his^11th book. "This is the 5th book to retrace the life and affairs of my family. Guirriec, d'une saga bretonne à une vraie tragédie grecque is not a novel, but the faithful transcription of 187 documents, letters and 235 photos concerning the history of my family in Châteauneuf-du-Faou from 1880 to 1911."

After many years' work, he has faithfully transcribed the documents concerning the Guirriec family, starting with the administrative setbacks of father Claude Guirriec and the various cases with tragic origins that will affect this family over three decades and two generations.

Events in which duplicity, greed, even rapacity, lies, denial and betrayal of one's word are revealed in the members of this family, first united, then protagonists.

Jean-Pierre Corbel presents his 11th book, "Guirriec d'une saga bretonne à une vraie tragédie grecque" (Guirriec: from Breton saga to Greek tragedy). | OUEST-FRANCE

"A family marked by misfortune. Of the eleven children my great-great-grandparents had, only five reached adulthood. Of the survivors, only one, my great-grandfather Stanislas, who was a notary in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, died of old age with his honor and serenity restored. This book is somewhere between a saga and a Greek tragedy!

Through the cases that concern him, this book evokes life in Châteauneuf "through eleven short stories that mark the high points of Châteauneuf life, such as the Stagnol crime, which left a deep impression on people at the time. My father witnessed this affair, the creation of the brass band by Abbé Fortin and Paul Sérusier's friendship with my great-grandfather, his notary.

OUEST - FRANCE / Declared canonical URL

Message from Jean Pierre:

At last, this 11th book is about to see the light of day, after months (years...) of hard work transcribing all those documents and reworking all those photos, not to mention gathering and photographing the key objects associated with the protagonists. This book scrupulously retraces the events that affected this family over 3 decades. It also shows us life in Châteauneuf du Faou, where my great-grandfather Stanislas Guirriec ran the notary's office for over half a century before his granddaughter's husband, Hervé Jégo, took over. Many moving photos and documents of life in Châteauneuf at the beginning of the 20th century.

This 400-page book, with 235 photos and 187 reproductions of old documents, retraces the life and business of this Breton family.

Contact: corbel.photovision@gmail.com for subscriptions. Publication early March 2023.