Georges Cochevelou
| Georges Cochevelou | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 May 1889 Paris, France |
| Died | 20 December 1974 (aged 85) Saint-Mandé, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Civil servant in the French Ministry of Finance musician luthier |
| Spouse(s) | Fanny-Julienne Dobroushkess |
| Children | 3, including Alan Stivell |
Georges Cochevelou (1889–1974) was an interpreter, soldier and banker. He discovered and reconstructed the Celtic harp of the Middle Ages, and, along with his harpist son Alan Stivell, was responsible for its revival in Brittany in the 1950s.
Georges (Jord or Jorj in Breton) Cochevelou was born on May 16, 1889 in the rue Vercingétorix (Vercingétorix Street) of the 14th arrondissement of Paris. His father was a native of Nouec Vihan in Gourin, and his mother of Pontivy. Georges was baptised in Vannetais territory in the south of Brittany, after which his family moved away from Paris. He was raised for some years by his maternal grandmother in Moustoir-Ac, and lived in Morbihan until he was thirty years old.
He was raised as a speaker of Gwenedeg before he became a soldier in World War I. He was wounded and taken prisoner in Germany in 1917. On Armistice of 11 November 1918, he was in Poland, where he studied Polish and Russian.
After the war he worked as a banker, administrator and interpreter, but his real passion was for the arts. He was a winner in the Lépine competition for several artistic works: he made an "astignomètre" (an ophthalmological device), created a table lamp (sold by Lancel - French leatherwear), built furniture like a cabinetmaker (French polish and marquetry) and painted in an original technique "of water-color in oil" on panels of hardboard painted in white, which were shown at an exhibition of independent artists at the academy of Raymond Duncan.
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