Barely a few days old, little Artús is deprived of his accent.
On December 15, the infant was born at the maternity hospital in Mende, capital of Lozère (48).
Happy with their second boy, the parents then write on the blue bracelet that the infant wears on his wrist: Artús with an acute accent on the “
u
”.
However, once the father arrived at the town hall, the civil status refuses this writing and registers on the family book Artus, without any trait of character.
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For the couple, originally from the region and lovers of the Occitan language, this script was chosen with care.
"
It was very important for us to pass on this regional heritage which is close to our hearts
", insists Lissandre Varenne, with Le
Figaro
.
Already the father of a little Amanç, the Occitan man does not understand this administrative decision.
“
You can call your son Johnny but not Artús, with an accent!
“, He continues, denouncing a “
cultural discrimination
”.
Only the Roman alphabet is allowed
For its part, the town hall, contacted by
Le Figaro
, argues that it is only applying the law while also defending the learning of the regional language.
“Our schoolchildren can have class in Occitan,
underlines the city of Mende.
But we can't do anything about the writing of first names, it's not up to us."
A ccording
to the law of July 20, 1794, public documents must indeed be written in French, even in regions where there is a local language.
In 2014, a circular reaffirming these principles was published.
All of these texts are brought together in a specific document, the general instruction on civil status (IGRC), which is regularly updated.
In this context, only the Roman alphabet can be used, the diacritical signs allowed being limited to dots, umlauts, accents and cedillas.
It is therefore possible to write the first name of your child with one of these signs, recognized as belonging to the French language: à - â - ä - é - è - ê - ë - ï - î - ô -ö - ù - û - ü - ÿ - ç.
"
Any other diacritical mark attached to a letter or ligature cannot be used for the establishment of a civil status document
", recalls the 2014 circular.
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Since then, despite the debate launched in May 2021 on the instruction of regional languages at school, the rules relating to civil status have not changed.
For the father of Artús and Amanç, the State must reaffirm its support for local heritage, by changing this law.
A position shared by the mayor of Mende, Laurent Suau, and the Occitanie region, whose president, Carole Delga, is very committed to this issue.
Pending a draft amendment to the circular, then authorizing other characters, the only solution for parents is to refer to the president of the High Court of Mende, who could then compel, according to article 1046 of the Code of civil procedure, the town hall of Mende to modify the marital status of the little boy.
The couple also hopes to build on previous cases in order to set up a group of concerned parents.
“Already in the region, we know other children who could not have an accent on the “í”,
he adds.
Or in Brittany, like
little Fañch, who for four years fought to keep his tilde
.
After a long legal battle, which ended in November 2018 with the authorization of the Rennes Court of Appeal, the blond-haired boy was able to retain his special character, without the law being changed.
The following year, another baby with the same first name could not carry the regional accent.
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