Jean-François Le Gonidec

Jean François Marie Le Gonidec de Kerdaniel (Breton: Yann-Frañsez ar Gonideg) (4 September 1775 -–12 October 1838) was a Breton grammarian who codified the Breton language.

He played an important role in the history of his native language by initiating a reform of its orthography, producing an orderly grammar and making the first Breton translation of the New Testament. He is sometimes called "Reizher ar brezhoneg" (Restorer of the Breton language).

Le Gonidec was born in Le Conquet to a family of the petty nobility. He studied in the college at Tréguier from 1787 to 1791. After the French Revolution he participated in the Royalist Catholic uprising known as the Chouannerie. After 1804, he joined Napoleon's Naval administration (Marine de guerre), and was commissioned to administer the forests with a view to manage the production of wood for ship building. He lived in several towns: Paris, Hambourg, Nancy and Moulins, settling in Angoulême where he lived for many years.

He occupied his spare time reforming the orthography of Breton and the codification of its grammar. In 1807, he published a grammaire celto-bretonne (Grammar of Breton Celtic) which sought to delineate the syntactical system of the language. It was the second notable work of its type after Father Julien Maunoir's 1657 grammar published by the Sacré Collège de Jésus. Le Gonidec wished to purify Breton, minimising French loan words used in vernacular speech and clarifying its relationship to its closest living relative Welsh.

He became a member of the short-lived Académie celtique, founded in Paris in 1803, which was soon renamed the Societé des Antiquaires de France. In 1821, he published a Dictionnaire celto-breton. In 1833, he moved to Paris and joined the Compagnie des Assurances générales, founded by a fellow Breton. In 1837, he produced a Dictionnaire français-breton. He died in the following year. The second edition of his Grammaire celto-bretonne was published shortly after his death.

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