biographie

Michel Miniussi was born in Paris on the 15th of August, 1956.

He grew up in Cannes among his mother's family, with a Provençal heritage dating back many years.  Around the age of 17, he made contact with an Occitan-language group in Nice, contributing actively to their journal La Beluga 'The Spark'.

He studied at the University of Montpellier under the supervision of Robert Lafont, specialising in Occitan literature, in which he was to become an active player, exacting in his writing, brilliant and creative. .

As a librarian in the Occitan region, he kept up a regular and extensive correspondence with Occitan-language writers.

He wrote letters, criticism, studies of particular authors, poems, and essays, which were published, often anonymously or under an assumed name, in the journal Oc, where he held the post of editor from 1986 onwards.

In 1988, his first novel, Jiròni, was published by Jorn/Fédérop, with an outline by Robert Lafont.

Although he had fallen gravely ill in 1981, he nevertheless continued to write and to promote — very effectively — the journal Oc, setting high standards as to the literary merit of texts accepted for publication.

His second novel, Lei Passatemps, the manuscript of which was submitted to the publishing arm of Oc shortly before his death, was published early in 1994 and obtained the Prix Antigone in Montpellier that same year.

Michel Miniussi died on the 9th of January 1992, leaving many texts which remain as yet unpublished.