Armand Lunel was a French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and the last known speaker of Shuadit (Judeo-Provençal), a now-extinct Occitan language. He was a childhood friend of Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

, and wrote the librettos of Milhaud's operas Esther de Carpentras ("Esther of Carpentras

Carpentras

Carpentras is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It stands on the banks of the Auzon...

," 1938, based on Shuadit folklore) and Les malheurs d’Orphée ("The Misfortunes of Orpheus," 1924).

Biography

Lunel was born in Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence

Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, to a family that belonged to a Jewish subculture that had roots in the area for at least five centuries. After coming of age in the region, Lunel taught law and philosophy in Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

. Lunel wrote extensively about the Jews of Provence.

He married Rachel Suzanne Messiah, a daughter of architect Aron Messiah

Aaron Messiah

Aaron Messiah was an early 20th century European architect. Messiah was court architect to Léopold II of Belgium, but his most famous work was the Villa Ephrussi, completed in 1912...

 in 1920.

Most of the current knowledge about Lunel was collected by his son-in-law: Georges Jessula

External links

• Armand Lunel at Beit Hatefutsot
  Beit Hatefutsot
  Beth Hatefutsoth or Diaspora Museum — the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, is located on the Tel Aviv University campus in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel...
  
  , the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Ramat Aviv
  Ramat Aviv
  Ramat Aviv is the name of several neighborhoods in the Northwest District of Tel Aviv, Israel:* Ramat Aviv Aleph * Ramat Aviv Bet * Ramat Aviv Gimmel...
  
  , Israel
  Israel
  The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...