Charles Ferdinand Ramuz was born in 1878 into a middle-class family in Lausanne. His father Émile, who came to Lausanne from the Gros-de-Vaud region at the age of sixteen, was a merchant. He ran a colonial food counter not far from the place de la Riponne, then a wholesale wine store on the rue Pré-du-Marché. His mother Louise, née Davel, hailed from Lavaux (she was not a descendant of Major Davel, who died without issue). There were no intellectuals in the Ramuz’s family; they were neither pastors nor teachers, and none of their members went into higher education. Art, creativity and expression counted for little, and literature was considered secondary.
Ramuz was the oldest of his siblings, ahead of his younger brother, Oscar (1882–1960) and sister Berthe (1897–1994), who was nineteen years his junior. However, he was preceded by two brothers, both of whom died before the age of three. In keeping with the custom of the time, Ramuz took the two given names of his elders. Known as Charles by those closest to him, as an author he chose to be called C. F., and that was the name used within the family from the moment he published.
« I was born in 1878, but don’t say that
Letter to Henry Poulaille, May 29, 1924
I was born Swiss, but don’t say that.
Say that I was born in the Pays de Vaud, which is an old Savoyard country, that is, speaking the langue d’oc, Provençal French from the banks of the Rhône, not far from its source.
I am a classics graduate, don’t say that.
Say that I have tried hard not to be a classics graduate, which at heart I am not, but a grandson of winegrowers and peasants, whom I would have liked to express. »