PARISH PRIEST BONAVENTURE FABRON

He was born in 1873 in Saint-Etienne de Tinée and died in 1958. When he was the parish priest of Peille, he travelled the mountains to pick aromatic herbs, which he turned into herbal teas and sold. With the proceeds, he was able to finance the construction of two churches, La Grave de Peille Church, and Saint-Martin de Peille Chapel.

Then he printed a series of postcards depicting Peille’s heritage in the 20s. He involved the nuns of La Charité et du Bon secours to run the hospice of Peille and, during the Second World War, he supported the effort to hide children who had fled Nice, some of whom were Jewish and placed under the protection of sister Thomasine.

He also lent his support to the members of the Resistance whom he met during his rambles in the mountains. After the war, he adopted an increasingly reclusive way of life, but still got in touch with the architect Buzzi, for the construction of Saint-Martin Chapel.