F. F. (François Frédéric) Roget

François Frédéric Roget was born in 1859 and is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France as having died in 1938. He wrote in more than one field, which makes him an unusual and interesting figure: alongside scholarly books on French language and philology, he also published Ski-runs in the High Alps in 1913.

That skiing book presents him not just as an observer, but as someone closely involved in the early culture of Alpine ski mountaineering. The title page identifies him as an honorary member of the Alpine Ski Club and of the Association of British Members of the Swiss Alpine Club, suggesting strong ties to the mountain and ski communities of his day.

Roget's surviving work gives the picture of a versatile author with both academic and adventurous interests. If you know him from Ski-runs in the High Alps, you'll find a lively window into the early days of modern skiing; if you come to him through his language books, you'll meet a writer equally at home with medieval French texts and careful instruction.