Louis-Honoré Fréchette: Difference between revisions
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He was the first Quebecer to receive the [[Montyon Prizes|Montyon Prize]] of the [[Académie française]] for his collection of poems ''Les Fleurs boréales, les oiseaux de neige'' (1879). |
He was the first Quebecer to receive the [[Montyon Prizes|Montyon Prize]] of the [[Académie française]] for his collection of poems ''Les Fleurs boréales, les oiseaux de neige'' (1879). |
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In 1881, he was given an honorary LLD by [[Queen's University|Queen's College, Kingston]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Adelphus Todd|journal=The Week : a Canadian journal of politics, literature, science and arts|date=January 31, 1884|volume=1|issue=9|page=137|url=https://archive.org/stream/weekcanadianjour01toro#page/n69/mode/1up|accessdate=April 25, 2013}}</ref> In that same year Fréchette would meet [[Mark Twain]] in Montreal, whose writing he had much admired. In the following year Twain would translate many of the poet's works into English and publish them with a preface in French, and toasting the poet at a welcoming banquet in [[Holyoke]], joked that "in my translation his pathetic poems have naturally become humorous, his humorous poems have become sad. Anybody who knows even the rudiments of arithmetic will know that Monsieur Fréchette's poems are now worth exactly twice as much as they were before."<ref>{{cite book|title=Mark Twain Speaking|pages= |
In 1881, he was given an honorary LLD by [[Queen's University|Queen's College, Kingston]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Adelphus Todd|journal=The Week : a Canadian journal of politics, literature, science and arts|date=January 31, 1884|volume=1|issue=9|page=137|url=https://archive.org/stream/weekcanadianjour01toro#page/n69/mode/1up|accessdate=April 25, 2013}}</ref> In that same year Fréchette would meet [[Mark Twain]] in Montreal, whose writing he had much admired. In the following year Twain would translate many of the poet's works into English and publish them with a preface in French, and toasting the poet at a welcoming banquet in [[Holyoke]], joked that "in my translation his pathetic poems have naturally become humorous, his humorous poems have become sad. Anybody who knows even the rudiments of arithmetic will know that Monsieur Fréchette's poems are now worth exactly twice as much as they were before."<ref>{{cite book|title=Mark Twain Speaking|pages=166–168|editor=Paul Fatout|author=Mark Twain|publisher=University of Iowa Press|year=1976|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mkFgXWvUkVoC&pg=PA166}}</ref> |
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In 1897 he was made a Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]]. |
In 1897 he was made a Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]]. |
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Revision as of 03:43, 20 November 2018
Louis-Honoré Fréchette | |
|---|---|
 Louis-Honoré Fréchette, 1900. Credit: Royal Society Portraits / Library and Archives Canada / C-002037. | |
| Born | November 16, 1839 Lévis, Lower Canada |
| Died | May 31, 1908 (aged 68) |
| Occupation | poet, playwright, short story writer |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Notable awards | Prix Montyon, CMG |
Louis-Honoré Fréchette, CMG (November 16, 1839 – May 31, 1908), was a Canadian poet, politician, playwright, and short story writer. For his prose, he would be the first Quebecois to receive the Prix Montyon from the Académie française, as well as the first Canadian to receive any honor of this kind from a European nation.[1]
Biography
Born in Lévis, Lower Canada, from 1854 to 1860 Fréchette did his classical studies at the Séminaire de Québec, the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and at the Séminaire de Nicolet. He later studied law at Université Laval.
In 1864, he opened a lawyer's office in Lévis where he founded two newspapers: Le drapeau de Lévis and La Tribune de Levis. He exiled himself in Chicago where he wrote La voix d'un exilé. A number of plays which he wrote during that period were lost in the Great Chicago Fire.
Soon after he returned home in 1874, he was elected Member of Parliament in Ottawa. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1874 to 1878 as the Liberal Party of Canada member from Lévis.He was not re-elected in 1878. After that, he moved to Montreal where he began writing full-time, having inherited the wealth of his aunt when she died.
He was the first Quebecer to receive the Montyon Prize of the Académie française for his collection of poems Les Fleurs boréales, les oiseaux de neige (1879).
In 1881, he was given an honorary LLD by Queen's College, Kingston.[2] In that same year Fréchette would meet Mark Twain in Montreal, whose writing he had much admired. In the following year Twain would translate many of the poet's works into English and publish them with a preface in French, and toasting the poet at a welcoming banquet in Holyoke, joked that "in my translation his pathetic poems have naturally become humorous, his humorous poems have become sad. Anybody who knows even the rudiments of arithmetic will know that Monsieur Fréchette's poems are now worth exactly twice as much as they were before."[3] In 1897 he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
Canada Post issued a postage stamp in his honour on July 7, 1989.
In 1991, Louis Honoré Fréchette Public School, a french immersion, opened in Thornhill, Ontario.
Notable works
Poetry
- La voix d'un exilé (1866)
- La découverte du Mississippi (1873)
- Pêle-mêle (1877)
- La Légende d'un peuple (1877)
- Poésies choisies (1879)
- Les Fleurs boréales, les oiseaux de neige (1879)
Short stories
- L'Iroquoise du lac Saint-Pierre (1861)
- Originaux et détraqués (1892), based on real life characters
- Les contes de Jos Violon
- Christmas in French Canada (1899)
Plays
- Le retour de l'exilé (1880)
- Papineau (1880)
- La retour de l'exilé (1880)
- Félix Poutré (1892)
References
- ^ "Fréchette, Louis". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto; Université Laval. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017.
- ^ "Adelphus Todd". The Week : a Canadian journal of politics, literature, science and arts. 1 (9): 137. January 31, 1884. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ Mark Twain (1976). Paul Fatout (ed.). Mark Twain Speaking. University of Iowa Press. pp. 166–168.
Bibliography
- W. H. New, ed. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002: 395–97.
External links
- Works by Louis-Honoré Fréchette at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Louis-Honoré Fréchette at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about Louis-Honoré Fréchette at the Internet Archive
- "Louis-Honoré Fréchette". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
- Notice biographique de Louis Fréchette at L'Île (in French)
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette – Parliament of Canada biography
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- 1839 births
- 1908 deaths
- 19th-century Canadian poets
- Canadian male poets
- Canadian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- 19th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
- Writers from Quebec
- Canadian poets in French
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
- Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
- Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French
- Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
- 19th-century male writers