René Pocard du Cosquer de Kerviler

Born in Vannes on November 13, 1842, and later dying in Lorient on May 12, 1907, René Pocard du Cosquer de Kerviler — usually known as René Kerviler — was a French engineer, archaeologist, bibliographer, and regional scholar. He trained at the École polytechnique and worked as an engineer in the Ponts et Chaussées, building a career in public works while also pursuing historical and literary research.

He is especially known for the Répertoire général de bio-bibliographie bretonne, a vast reference work devoted to notable figures from Brittany. The project remained unfinished, but it became the achievement most closely tied to his name and shows the scale of his ambition as a researcher.

Kerviler was also active in Breton learned and regional circles, including leadership roles linked to regional scholarship and geography. For readers interested in writers who preserved local memory as carefully as they recorded facts, he stands out as a patient and passionate builder of Breton cultural history.