User:BrokenSphere/Sandbox/Coignet
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| Jean-Roch Coignet | |
|---|---|
| August 16, 1776 – December 10, 1865 (aged 89) | |
| Place of birth | Druyes-les-Belles-Fontaines |
| Place of death | Auxerre |
| Allegiance | France |
| Years of service | 1799-1815 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | La Grande Armée Imperial Guard |
| Awards | Légion d'honneur |
Jean-Roch Coignet (August 16, 1776 – December 10, 1865) was a French soldier who served in the military campaigns of the Consulate and First French Empire, up through the Battle of Waterloo. He later wrote his memoirs detailing his military service, The Notebooks of Captain Coignet, which are still being reprinted.
Contents |
[edit] Military service
Coignet was conscripted in 1799.
He had participated in 16 campaigns and 48 battles, never having been wounded.
[edit] Later life
Coignet settled in Auxerre, running a tobacconist's shop. He began to write his memories after the death of his wife in August 1848. These were initially published in Auxerre between 1851 and 1853 under the title Aux vieux de la vieille. The first print run of 500 copies was sold directly by Coignet to his customers.
Coignet's memoirs however, were written in rough French, as he had not learned to read and write until late in life. Years after his death in 1865, in 1883, the writer Loredan Larchey, by revising and rewriting Coignet's memoirs, published broad extracts of Aux vieux de la vieille under the title The Notebooks of the Captain Coignet, with met with immediate success. The Notebooks from then on were constantly republished, but the first integral edition was published only in 1968 by the writer Jean Mistler, who adds an important foreword.
[edit] TV miniseries
Coignet was the subject of a French TV miniseries, Jean-Roch Coignet, which was written by Albert Vidalie and directed by Claude-Jean Bonnardot. The French national public broadcasting agency ORTF aired seven one hour episodes from December 23, 1969 through January 3, 1970. The cast was as follows:
- Henri Lambert - Jean-Roch Coignet
- Pierre Santini - Gervais
- François Dyrek - La Franchise
- Max Vialle - Godaille
- Anne Pauzé - Louison
- Jacques Mondain - Benoît
- Fabienne Mai - Mme Potier
- Hervé Sand - M. Potier
- Pascal Tersou - Palbrois
- Jean Payen - Le sergent écrivain
[edit] References
- Jean-Roch Coignet entry on the French Wikipedia (French). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
- Jean-Roch Coignet at the Internet Movie Database
- Capitaine Jean Roche Coignet, Imperial Guard
