Exhibition “My Dear Little Jeannie”

June 11–29, 2018
Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sète Marine Station, 2 Rue des Chantiers
Organized by the Sète Municipal Archives, the exhibition “My Dear Little Jeannie” features the correspondence between Bernard Collin, a biologist at the Sète Zoological Station, and his wife during World War I. It offers an intimate and touching account that bridges memory and history.

Intimate Correspondence During the Great War

Bernard Collin was a biologist at the Sète Zoological Station when World War I broke out. As a non-commissioned officer in the 21st Infantry Regiment, he arrived at the front on November 7, 1914, near Béthune in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. He was killed during the Third Battle of Artois in the fall of 1915. He was barely 34 years old.
From August 1914 until his death, Bernard Collin and his wife Magali wrote to each other almost every day.
Their correspondence bears witness to the intensity of their feelings but also to the bloody conflict ravaging Europe. Magali Collin mentions their daughter Jeannie, born in 1911. Bernard Collin shares with his wife his reflections—as a cultured and sensitive man—on what he is enduring at the front.
This humanist also writes to his daughter, to whom he sends sketches and drawings.

Traveling exhibition

Based on this beautiful collection of correspondence—more than 600 letters preserved by the granddaughter of Bernard and Magali Collin—the Sète Municipal Archives has created the exhibition *
* (“My Dear Little Jeannie”).
A traveling exhibition consisting of a documentary film and 23 panels showcasing a variety of original items, including letters, photos, drawings, postcards, newspapers, and archival documents…
The result of meticulous collection efforts, these items bear witness to an era and a remarkable love story brought back to life today.