Tony Bourg


Tony Bourg, born 13 February 1912 in Weicherdange, and died 18 June 1991 in Luxembourg City, was a Luxembourgish professor, author, linguist, and literary scholar and critic.

Biography

Tony Bourg attended primary school in Weicherdange, then went to the boarding school in Diekirch, as his father moved to the United States for a long time. After finishing secondary school in 1932, he studied Romance languages and literature, and classical studies, at the Cours Supérieurs in Luxembourg City and at the universities of Paris and Grenoble. From 1939 onwards he taught French and Latin at the Lycée classique d'Echternach. During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, he was forcibly resettled along with his wife. After the war, he became a professor at the Lycée de garçons Luxembourg. From 1955 to 1968 he taught French literature for jurists at the Cours Supérieurs, and from 1968 to 1975 at the French department of the Centre universitaire.
In 1971, he undertook the first large-scale renovation of the Victor-Hugo-Literaturmusée in Vianden. The occasion for this was the 100th anniversary of the French poet's last stay in Vianden in 1871. The museum was to illustrate Hugo's life from now on through a greater use of original documents.
From 1973, Tony Bourg lived in Weicherdange. In 1979 he was a founding member of the regional association De Cliärrwer Kanton – Veräin fir d'kulturellt Liäwwen a.s.b.l.

Work

Tony Bourg published articles in many journals and newspapers, especially about foreign writers, such as Victor Hugo, or André Gide, and many others, who had resided in Luxembourg. He was one of the best authorities on the activities of the "Colpach circle", the group of artists, writers and intellectuals around Émile Mayrisch.
In the 1960s, Tony Bourg held literary talks on RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg. His essays and literary contributions were published posthumously under the title Recherches et Conférences littéraires.
Tony Bourg's archives are held in the National Literature Centre under the number CNL L-0011.

Named after him