Yann-Ber Kalloc'h

He describes his childhood in the autobiographical poem Me 'zo Ganet kreiz ar e mor (I was born in the middle of the sea), which also praised his native island.

He was forced to renounce his vocation after his two sisters and his younger brother revealed signs of mental illness, since canon law forbade the priesthood to those who had relatives suffering from such diseases.

[2] Beginning in 1912, Kallocʼh joined fellow Breton intellectuals Iwan en Diberder and Meven Mordiern in coediting the literary journal Brittia, which was intended, "to help incite in the cultivated classes of Brittany an intellectual movement of the first order, authentically indigenous and to make it take shape in the Breton language", as well as, "to contribute to reshaping Brittany into a nation, a Celtic nation.

"[3] Brittia accordingly published Diberder's literary translations of stories from Irish mythology, including the legend of the star crossed lovers Deirdre and Naoise from the Ulster Cycle and The Voyage of Máel Dúin, into the Vannes dialect of the Breton language, but despite his role in founding the magazine, Kallocʼh felt unable to continue his involvement after Diberder began publishing attacks against the Roman Catholic clergy.

In addition, now readily fighting for France, he saw the war as the great chance to affirm the national identity of Brittany and resurrect its language and culture.

[6] While serving as a Poilu, Yann-Ber Kallocʼh was reportedly a terrible foe to face in the trench warfare of the Western Front, as he wielded a sailor's axe formerly used in the French Navy for boarding enemy ships in hand-to-hand combat.

[8] The literary work which reveals Kallocʼh to be one of the greatest figures in Breton literature is his posthumous poetry collection, Ar en deulin (Kneeling), which was published by his friend Pierre Mocaer in 1925.

[9] In these poems composed in large part at the Western Front, he expresses his deep Roman Catholic faith, love of his native language and passionate beliefs in favor of Breton political autonomy.

(The book by L. Paulus contains further texts, including two short stories revealing a touch of humour one would not have expected from the author of Ar en deulin.