Antoine Gérin-Lajoie

Antoine Gérin-Lajoie (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃.twan.ʒe.ʁɛ̃.la.ʒwa]; August 4, 1824 in Yamachiche, Quebec – August 7, 1882 in Ottawa) was a Québécois Canadian poet and novelist. He was the author of the famous poem Un Canadien errant (English: A Wandering Canadian). He was the father of the sociologist Léon Gérin. His novels include the roman du terroir Jean Rivard, le défricheur (1874), and its sequel, Jean Rivard, économiste (1876).

Antoine Gérin-Lajoie
Portrait of Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, by Edmond-Joseph Massicotte
BornAntoine Gérin-Lajoie
(1824-08-04)August 4, 1824
Yamachiche, Quebec, Lower Canada
DiedAugust 7, 1882(1882-08-07) (aged 58)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Early life and education

Gérin-Lajoie's parents, Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, Sr. and Marie-Amable Gélinas had seventeen children in all, of which ten survived childhood. He was the eldest child. His family hailed from Savoie, France and arrived in Canada when his grandfather Jean served in the army of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. He did his classical studies at the Séminaire de Nicolet, in Nicolet. In 1844, he travelled to Montreal to study law, and was admitted to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1848.

Career

He wrote Un Canadien errant in 1842 while taking his classical exams at the Séminaire de Nicolet. During his legal studies, he lived in poverty and worked for the newspaper La Minerve as a translator and corrector and later as an editor. He also served as the secretary of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society from 1845 until its reorganization in 1847. In 1849, he worked for the Ministry of Public Works and was named to the Library of Parliament in 1856, living alternately between Montreal and Toronto. In 1860 he moved to Quebec City when the government settled there, and became one of the founders of the literature magazines Les Soirées canadiennes and later Le Foyer canadien. His roman du terroir Jean Rivard, le défricheur appeared in the former magazine in 1862, and its sequel, Jean Rivard, économiste appeared in the latter magazine in 1864. In 1867, when the government moved to Ottawa, he moved there too where he continued to work as a librarian for the federal library. After getting struck with paralysis in 1880, he died two years later at the age of 58.


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