Jean-Marie Deguinet

Jean-Marie Déguignet (19 July 1834 – 29 August 1905) was a Breton soldier, farmer, salesman, shopkeeper, and writer who is best known for his memoirs illuminating the life of the rural poor of 19th-century France.

Life Déguignet was born into a farming family in south-west Brittany. He spent time in the army—he was posted as far away as Mexico—and fought in the Crimea. His love of learning, and the extensive and eclectic nature of his studies and travel while a young man, led him to freethought and atheism.

In 1868, having finished his last stint in the military and accumulated some respectable savings, he returned to his childhood home of Quimper. He stayed on his farm at Toulven for fifteen years, but was then evicted for his persistent and prominent Republican agitation.