Person Biography:
Albin Théodore Denys Colomb de Daunant was born on November 21, 1922, in the Gard department of southern France, to a Protestant family of major landowners. He was the son of Auguste Colomb de Daunant and L. Carenou. Denys Colomb de Daunant's early life was marked by his aristocratic upbringing and his passion for the Camargue region.
As a young man, Denys Colomb de Daunant had to flee France during World War II after insulting a German officer. He attempted to rejoin the Free French Forces in Morocco but was captured while crossing the Pyrenees and imprisoned. After the war, he returned to the Camargue in 1947 and purchased the Cacharel mas in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where he lived for over sixty years.
Denys Colomb de Daunant transformed the Cacharel mas into a rustic horse-riding centre, which became one of the area's best-known manades for both horses and Camargue bulls. He was a close friend to many prominent cultural figures, including Picasso, Chagall, Ernest Hemingway, and Salvador Dalí. He was also close to Frédéric Mistral and contributed to the latter's Occitan language magazine Aïoli.
In 1948, Denys Colomb de Daunant married Monique Bonis, the granddaughter of Folco de Baroncelli-Javon, his spiritual forebear. He managed the bullfighting ring at Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer and sometimes took part in bullfights himself.
Denys Colomb de Daunant co-authored the novel and short film White Mane with Albert Lamorisse and James Agee. The film, released in 1952, focused on the wild horses of the Camargue and was filmed at the mas de Cacharel. He spent much of his life fighting to protect the cultural heritage of the Camargue, campaigning against the encroachment of electricity pylons. He avoided using electricity himself and perpetuated the image of the Camargue as an area of tough men and wild animals.
Denys Colomb de Daunant died on March 22, 2006, at the age of 85, leaving behind two children, Florian and Sylvie Colomb de Daunant.
