Antoine Gérin-Lajoie (; August 4, 1824 – August 7, 1882) was a Québécois

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

attorney,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. He was the author of the famous poem "

Un Canadien errant "Un Canadien errant" ("A Wandering Canadian") is a song written in 1842 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie after the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–38. Some of the rebels were condemned to death, others forced into exile to the United States and as far as ...

" ('A Wandering Canadian'), as well as the novels

roman du terroir The ''roman du terroir'' (rural novel) was strongly present in French Quebec literature from 1846 to 1945. It had as its goal the celebration of rural life during a period of rapid industrialization. The clergy and the state encouraged this type of ...

''Jean Rivard, le défricheur'' (1874) and its sequel, ''Jean Rivard, économiste'' (1876), among other works. He was the father of sociologist

Léon Gérin Léon Gérin (; May 17, 1863 – January 15, 1951) was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant, and sociologist. Born in Quebec City, Canada East, the son of Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, Gérin studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet before receiving a law degre ...

Early life and education

Antoine Gérin-Lajoie was the eldest child of Antoine Gérin-Lajoie, Sr., and Marie-Amable Gélinas, who had seventeen children in all, of which ten survived childhood. His family hailed from

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and arrived in Canada when his grandfather Jean served in the army of

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Grozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War (whose North American th ...

. He did his classical studies at the , in Nicolet, which he entered in 1836. In 1844, he travelled to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

to study law, and was admitted to the Bar of Lower Canada in 1848.

Career

He wrote "

" 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 ''La Minerve'' (French for "The Minerva") was a newspaper founded in Montreal, Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) by Augustin-Norbert Morin to promote the political goals of Louis-Joseph Papineau's Parti patriote. It was notably directed by Ludge ...

as a translator and corrector and later as an editor. He also served as the secretary of the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (french: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic assoc ...

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 The Library of Parliament (french: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa ...

in 1856, living alternately between Montreal and Toronto. In 1860 he moved to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

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 Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

in 1880, he died two years later at the age of 58.

References

External links

*
Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* Archives of the Gerin-Lajoie family, including records concerning Antoine Gérin-Lajoi
(Fonds famille Gérin-Lajoie, R11755)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

* ''Jean Rivard : scènes de la vie réelle'' on ''Bibliothèque mobile de littérature québécoise'' (HTML)

Antoine Gerin-Lajoie Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

1824 births 1882 deaths 19th-century Canadian lawyers 19th-century Canadian male writers 19th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian poets in French Lawyers in Quebec Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Writers from Quebec {{canada-poet-stub