Maurice Grevisse

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Maurice Grevisse (October 7, 1895—July 4, 1980) is a Belgian grammarian. His name is pronounced [gʁevis], as if there were an acute accent on the first e.

[edit] Biography

Born in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium, Grevisse at a young age broke with a family tradition of working as blacksmiths by deciding to become a schoolteacher. He attended the Normal School of Carlsbourg, where he received his teacher's diploma in 1915. He then entered the Normal School of Malonne and became a form-master of literature. He received a position as a teacher of French at l'École des Pupilles of the army of Marneffe. During this period, he taught himself Latin and Greek. While continuing to proceed in his career, he read classical philology at the University of Liège. In 1925, he received the title of "doctor of classical philology". In 1927, he became a professor at l'École royale des cadets in Namur.

As a schoolteacher turned professor, Grevisse realized that the existing grammars of French did not answer the needs of his teaching. He gathered together his notes to produce a manuscript he called le bon usage.

Many renowned publishers refused his manuscript; eventually a modest publisher from Gembloux, Belgium published it in 1936. The publishing house Duculot was launched, and the success of the work never flagged, even during the war. André Gide cited Le Bon Usage as the best French-language grammar in existence.

Grevisse was named an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1971. From 1967 to his death, he held a seat at the International Board of the French language. Today his son-in-low André Goosse, born in 1926 and also a grammarian, continues to revise Le Bon Usage which is currently at its 13th edition.

Grevisse died in La Louvière, Hainaut, Belgium.

[edit] Bibliography

Le Bon Usage : the first edition dates to 1936. Eleven editions were published during the life of Grevisse and with his signature. The 11th edition dates to 1980. Ever since, the revision of Le Bon Usage has been continued by André Goosse from the 12th edition (1991) onwards. The 14th edition is currently in preparation.

Besides Le Bon Usage, Grevisse published several school and reference books dealing with difficulties in French: