Never write Saint-Christophe-sur-Dolaizon with an “s” again! From January 1, 2025, the Haute-Loire village of around a thousand inhabitants, located south of Puy-en-Velay, will definitively regain its historical spelling. Behind this epic fight hides a mayor, Daniel Boyer.
The chosen one readily describes himself as “stubborn” and wants to be “follower of a certain logic”. “It’s just a matter of common sense, this matter,” smiles the chief magistrate who has been fighting against the administration for years to find his “z”.
“The neighboring river and locality are written Dolaizon with a z and we have one town sign written with an “s” and the other with a “z”. Nobody understood anything anymore! Even the GPS had difficulty finding us, insists the elected official. The confusion dates back to 1905, when the error was first made by the administration. Since then, the fault has continued. So, when I arrived at the head of the municipality, I immediately tackled this issue. I didn’t think it would take so long,” laments the councilor.
If the idea submitted to its municipal council “was adopted 100%”, it was then necessary to convince the departmental archives, the departmental council, the prefecture… The news was definitively ratified in August by a publication in the Official Journal. All that remains is to change the road signs and the municipality's letterhead which still bear the spelling error. But Daniel Boyer swears, “it shouldn’t cost residents too much.” Saint-Christophorians can sleep peacefully.
