Amélie Gex

Amélie Rose Françoise Gex (October 24, 1835 in La Chapelle-Blanche, Savoie – June 16, 1883 in Chambéry) was a Savoyard writer and poet who created works in French and Franco-Provençal (Arpitan). Until 1880, she published most of her writings under the pen name Dian de la Jeânna.

Biography Amélie Gex was the daughter of the physician and winemaker Marc-Samuel Gex. Her mother died when she was 4 years old. She first lived in Chambéry then Challes-les-Eaux with her grandmother. At fourteen, she moved back to La Chapelle-Blanche with her father.

Upon the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, Gex, like many Liberals who preferred the Italian Cavour to Napoleon III of France, supported King Victor Emmanuel II. She later became Republican, and entered politics, writing speeches in dialect to better speak to rural voters.

Gex began writing during the years 1872–75. After the death of her father in 1876, she operated her family's estate, then returned to live in Chambéry, where she lived modestly.

In 1877, the Republican newspaper Le Père André Her poems are devoted to vineyards, farmers and the Savoy. They evoke the harvest, threshing with a flail, and the cycles of nature that motivate people to work.

Gex also wrote short stories. In "Dit de la couleuvre" ("Tale of the Snake"), she reworks the story of the Queen of Sheba, who rode a flying serpent to marry Solomon. In "Dit du Château mort" ("Tale of Castle Death"), she evokes a pagan country castle near Mont Blanc haunted by a flaming sword turning in the air. Deciding that politics should give way to work, she also strove to write stories in French to expand her readership.

In 1882, she was honored by the Academy of Savoy for her work.

She died of an illness in 1883.

Selected works

1878, Le long de l'An, chansons en patois savoyard, avec la traduction française en regard, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1879, Reclans de Savoué, Les Echos de Savoie, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1880, Poésies, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1882, Lo cent ditons de Pierre d'Emo, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1882, À une âme sincère, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1885, Vieilles gens et vieilles choses : Histoire de ma rue de mon village, quatre contes 1894, Feuilles mortes, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry 1898, Fables, Imp. C.-P. Ménard, Chambéry