Immersion in the heart of Oloron in the 1950s in a new book

A precious find

This was the opportunity for Pierre Castillou to explain the genesis of his work to this packed assembly. “This book would never have existed without the work of André Boutkévitch,” he first clarified. During his research at the media library, the Oloronais discovered a thesis that this geographer devoted to the capital of Haut-Béarn in 1951, when he was only around twenty years old.

“I managed to contact André, who lived in the Grenoble region. He was surprised by my approach, because I was the first to talk to him about his work on Oloron in 70 years,” laughs Pierre Castillou. Cruel disappointment for the historian: the photos which accompanied the thesis had vanished. Fortunately, the geographer had kept his negatives, which allowed the Oloronais to have them developed with the help of a professional from Pau.

This lovely find encouraged Pierre Castillou to create a book to highlight the series of photos dating back seven decades. “I introduced an element of fiction while sticking as closely as possible to reality. The work gave me the opportunity to stage André Boutkévitch in the streets of Oloron, and to have him meet characters of the time, for example the famous Toutouille, who showed him around a few streets of the Notre-Dame district. Lady “. Several Oloronais will take over to allow the young man to discover the city.

Tell the little story of Oloron

“These guides give me the opportunity to tell the little history of the city. I mention the economy of the factories, but also of the markets and fairs of Oloron: in this area, I relied heavily on the work of André Boutkévitch, thanks to his thesis and the exchanges that we were able to have through telephone,” explains Pierre Castillou. “He described the functioning of machines and factories which have disappeared today: Carçabal, Mazères, Lartigue…”

A call to collectors

As he wrote, Pierre Castillou realized that he was missing photos to show all of the city's activity in the 1950s. The historian then launched an appeal which allowed him to to have a beautiful variety of illustrations, thanks to the collections of Jacques Bordenave, Jean-Pierre Latrubesse, Eric Ignacel, as well as the Fabre, Dachary, Roux collections…

The meeting organized this Saturday at the town hall should have been an opportunity to pay tribute to André Boutkévitch. Sadly, the latter died on July 7, at the age of 97. The preface to the work, however, testifies to his pride in seeing his work resurface from oblivion. “His grandparents fled Russia at the time of the Bolshevik revolution: they met in Warsaw and went to live in Paris,” recalls Pierre Castillou. “At the time of the Second World War, his parents moved to Pau, where André followed part of his studies before going to university in Bordeaux: it was at this moment that he chose Oloron as the theme of his dissertation” .

“A precious gift”

Present at the town hall, Natacha, the daughter of André Boutkévitch, wanted to thank Pierre Castillou “for the chance you gave my father by taking an interest in his work. It is a precious gift, which allowed him to look back on the past with the confidence that his work finds its way into the present, even though he was so close to the end of his life.”

At the end of the meeting, the mayor of Oloron presented a posthumous city medal to André Boutkévitch.

“Oloron, years 1950” by Pierre Castilou, published by MonHélios, is available at the price of 29 euros.