JASMIN, JACQUES

born March 6, 1798, Agen, Fr. died Oct 4, 1864, Agen pseudonym of Jacques Bo French dialect poet who achieved popular fame for his touching verse portraits of humble people and places. His father was a poor tailor, and Jasmin himself spent most of his life as a barber and wigmaker in his native part of southern France. His first collection of poems, Charivari (1825; Tin-Kettle Music), was followed, beginning in 1835, by 4 volumes of Papillotos (Curlpapers); in addition to a few poems written cautiously in French, they contained his better works, written in his native dialect, la langue d'oc. Included in this collection was a poem of great pathosL'Abuglo de Castel-Culi (The Blind Girl of Casterculier)which captured the public imagination after Jasmin began public readings and singings in Toulouse and Bordeaux. Some of his major poems include Souvenirs (1835), Franconnette (1840), Martha la folle (1844; Martha the Simple), and Les Deux Frres jumeaux (1845; The Twin Brothers).