Émile Hamonic

Émile Hamonic (left) with his friend Théodore Botrel (plus Léna Botrel and Paul Barbier), at the Celtic Congress of Caernarfon, 1904.

Émile Eugène Louis Hamonic (1861–1943) was a French photographer and publisher, associated with the picture-postcard boom of the early 20th century. He established himself as a publisher of picture postcards in Saint-Brieuc in 1893, becoming one of the first great editors of this genre.

His cards typically presented idealised images of his native Brittany. He was also a committed supporter of Breton regionalism, and was an active member of the Breton Regionalist Union.

Life He was born on 26 August 1861 at Moncontour in Côtes-du-Nord. He was one of nine siblings. His family operated a hardware store and bought and sold antiques. His parents took him along on their buying-trips into the surrounding countryside and he became a passionate lover of the brand new velocipede bicycle. He was apprenticed to a photographer in Dinard, and after his military service, he established himself as a professional photographer in Moncontour, later moving to Saint-Brieuc.

Postcards Hamonic was one of the first to recognise the development of the picture postcard to France. To provide an outlet for photographers and painters like him, he founded the Éditions d'art Hamonic in Saint-Brieuc. His company was a tremendous success, exploiting the popularity of picturesque images of Brittany for tourists, which were abundant in the summer months. These postcards are usually signed "Hamonic", or, rarely, "E.H."

In July 1906 he was one of the organizers, with Octave-Louis Aubert, of a pan-Celticist historical festival held in Saint-Brieuc. He was made an honorary bard of the Gorsedd of Brittany.