Mistral, Frédéric, << mee STRAL, fray day REEK >> (1830-1914), was a famous French poet who won the 1904 Nobel Prize in literature. He wrote in modern Provençal, the language of southern France. Mistral led a movement of the 1800’s called the Felibrige, which tried to revive the literary tradition and enrich the language of the medieval troubadours (see Troubadour).
In 1859, Mistral wrote his masterpiece, Mirèio (also called Mireille), an epic describing the tragic love of a farmer’s daughter in the valley of the Rhône River. The poem’s success did much to gain sympathy for the Provençal revival in literature. In addition to Song of the Rhône (1897) and other poems, Mistral compiled Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige (1876-1886), a dictionary of langue d’oc, the general term used for the dialects of southern France. He was born near Arles. on Sept. 8, 1830. He died on March 25, 1914.
