Born in 1797 in Bagès in the pyrenean valley of Ossau in France, Pierrine Gaston-Sacaze was a shepherd from the Bearn who died nearly centenarian in 1893 in his native village and whose work, intelligence, and creativity pushed him to a global fame without leaving his native valley at any time.

Brother of a family of shepherds and farmers, Pierrine inherits the family business at 11, which, apart from the relative poverty of their background, prevents him from pursuing his studies. Self-educated by obligation, he proves to have a passion for learning. Self-taught out of necessity, he demonstrated a thirst for knowledge out of the ordinary and extraordinary qualities of assimilation which he developed in subjects as varied as poetry, musicology, entomology, palaeontology, archaeology , astronomy, geology, mineralogy, meteorology, ornithology, veterinary medicine, botany (his great specialty once dominated, in a quasi-solitary, the learning of Latin for botanical classification through the "Buglossoides gaston Bentham," ex. "Lithospermum gaston Bentham" or gromwell Gaston that he discovered, which proves his excellence in the field) and even hypnosis.

His finest hour lasted almost 40 years between 1836 and 1874 when world travellers were on their way to the famous spa of Eaux-Bonnes (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) in search of rest or treatment of their ailments and many flock to consult the wise man of the place, to learn or get any light on one of the many subjects he dominated with such ease.

Child of the same land of Bearn as Gaston-Sacaze, I wanted at the time of trying the uncertain (and for me, so disregarded) adventure of being a travel agent so far from my dear Beam, to remember my roots, and put my business in line with local values and authenticity that symbolize the character and life of Gaston-Sacaze but also and especially under the dual auspices of quality and creativity, two qualities that marked fundamentally the life of the "Berger phenomenon”.

If, as Antonin Nicol, his biographer, wrote "Gaston-Sacaze had only one fear at the end of his life: being forgotten", this site can serve at a distance and under the virtual face of globalization, which would have fascinated our man without any doubt, as a tribute to his life and his work and participate to redress an unfair historical oblivion.

If you want to learn more:
You can read the biography of Gaston Pierrini Sacaze written by Antonin Nicol: Pierrine GASTON-SACAZE, Berger-Phénomène, Sa vie et son oeuvre, Marrimpouey, Pau, 1989, 275pp.

You can contact the Association Pierrini Gaston Sacaze, City of Béost - 64,440 Béost