Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

party, the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

, and its successor, the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

. He won Canada's top literary prize, the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

, twice, once for poetry and once for non-fiction. He was married to artist

Marian Dale Scott Marian Mildred Dale Scott (; 1906–1993) was a Canadian painter. Life She was born Marian Mildred Dale in Montreal on 26 June 1906.https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marian-mildred-dale-scott She showed talent at an early age: he ...

Life and work

Scott was born on August 1, 1899, in

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 ...

, the sixth of seven children. His father was Frederick George Scott, "an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, minor poet and staunch advocate of the civilizing tradition of imperial Britain, who instilled in his son a commitment to serve mankind, a love for the regenerative balance of the Laurentian landscape and a firm respect for the social order."Keith Richardson,
Scott, Francis Reginald (Frank)
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1961. He witnessed the riots in the city during the

Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (french: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also b ...

. Completing his undergraduate studies at

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

, in

Lennoxville Lennoxville is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lennoxvi ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Scott went to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and was influenced by the

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

ideas of R. H. Tawney and the Student Christian Movement. Scott returned to Canada, settled in

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 ...

, studied law at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, and eventually joined the law faculty as a professor. While at McGill, Scott became a member of the

Montreal Group The Montreal Group, sometimes referred to as the McGill Group or McGill Movement,Dean Irvine,Montreal Group" ''Oxford Companion to Canadian History''. Answers.com, Web, March 25, 2011. was a circle of Canadian modernist writers formed in the mid-19 ...

modernist poets This is a list of major poets of the Modernist movement. English-language Modernist poets *Marion Angus *W. H. Auden *Djuna Barnes *Elizabeth Bishop *Rupert Brooke *Basil Bunting *Hart Crane *E. E. Cummings *H.D. * T. S. Eliot *Robert Frost * ...

, a circle that also included

Leon Edel Joseph Leon Edel (9 September 1907 – 5 September 1997) was an American/Canadian literary critic and biographer. He was the elder brother of North American philosopher Abraham Edel. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls Edel "the foremo ...

John Glassco John Glassco (December 15, 1909 – January 29, 1981) was a Canadian poet, memoirist and novelist. According to Stephen Scobie, "Glassco will be remembered for his brilliant autobiography, his elegant, classical poems, and for his translations."S ...

, and A. J. M. Smith.Dean Irvine,
Montreal Group
" ''Oxford Companion to Canadian History''. Answers.com, Web, March 25, 2011. Scott and Smith became lifelong friends. Scott contributed to the ''McGill Daily Literary Supplement'', which Smith edited; when that folded in 1925, he and Smith founded and edited the ''McGill Fortnightly Review''. After the ''Review'' folded, Scott helped found and briefly co-edited ''The Canadian Mercury''. Scott, assisted by Smith and

Leo Kennedy John Leo Kennedy (August 22, 1907 – 2000) was a Canadian poet and critic, who in the 1920s and 1930s was a member of the Montreal Group of modernist poets. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' says of him that "Kennedy helped change the direction o ...

, also anonymously edited the modernist poetry anthology '' New Provinces'' (in which he published ten poems), which was published in 1936. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

greatly disturbed Scott; he and the historian

Frank Underhill Frank Hawkins Underhill, Medal of Service of the Order of Canada, SM, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, FRSC (November 26, 1889 – September 16, 1971) was a Canadians, Canadian journalist, essayist, historian, cultural critic, social c ...

founded the

League for Social Reconstruction The League for Social Reconstruction (LSR) was a circle of Canadian socialists officially formed in 1932. The group advocated for social and economic reformation as well as political education. The formation of the LSR was provoked by events such ...

(LSR) to advocate

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

solutions in a Canadian context. Through the LSR, Scott became an influential figure in the Canadian socialist movement. He was a founding member of the

(CCF) and a contributor to that party's

Regina Manifesto The Regina Manifesto was the programme of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and was adopted at the first national convention of the CCF held in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1933. The goal of the Regina Manifesto was to eradicate the sy ...

. He also edited a book advocating ''Social Planning for Canada'' (1935). In 1943, he co-authored ''Make This Your Canada'', spelling out the CCF national programme, with David Lewis. Scott was elected national chairman of the CCF in 1942, and would serve until 1950. In March 1942 Scott co-founded a literary magazine, ''Preview'', with the Montreal poet Patrick Anderson. Like the earlier Montreal Group publications, "''Preview'' orientation was

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

; its members looked largely towards the English poets of the 1930s for inspiration."George Woodcock,
Northern Review
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1515. In 1950–1951 Scott cofounded Recherches sociales, a study group concerned with the French–English relationship. He began translating French-Canadian poetry. In 1952 he served as a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

technical assistance resident representative in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

to help build a socialist state in that country. During the 1950s, Scott was an active opponent of the

Duplessis Duplessis may refer to: * Duplessis (surname) **Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959), the 16th premier of Quebec ***'' Duplessis (TV series)'', a historical television series about Maurice Duplessis that aired in Québec in 1978 ***Duplessis Orphans s ...

regime in Quebec and went to court to fight the

Padlock Law The ''Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda'' (french: Loi protégeant la province contre la propagande communiste), commonly known as the "Padlock Law" or "Padlock Act" (french: La loi du cadenas), was a law in the province ...

. He also represented Frank Roncarrelli, a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

, in ''

Roncarelli v Duplessis ''Roncarelli v. Duplessis'', 959S.C.R. 121, was a landmark constitutional decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. The court held that in 1946 Maurice Duplessis, both Premier and Attorney General of Quebec, had overstepped his authority by orde ...

'' all the way to the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

, a battle that Maurice Duplessis lost. Scott began translating French-Canadian poetry, publishing ''

Anne Hébert Anne Hébert (pronounced in French) (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry. Early life Hébe ...

and Saint-Denys Garneau'' in 1962. He edited ''Poems of French Canada'' (1977), which won the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal i ...

prize for translation. Funeral monument F

Scott served as dean of law at

from 1961 to 1964 and served on the

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (french: Commission royale d’enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme, also known as the Bi and Bi Commission and the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a Canadian royal commissio ...

. In 1970 he was offered a seat in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

. Although he declined the appointment, he supported Trudeau's imposition of the

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...

during the

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James C ...

same year. Scott opposed Quebec's

Bill 22 The ''Official Language Act'' of 1974 (french: Loi sur la langue officielle), also known as Bill 22, was an act of the National Assembly of Quebec, commissioned by Premier Robert Bourassa, which made French the sole official language of Quebec, ...

and

Bill 101 The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...

, which established the province within its jurisdiction as an officially-unilingual province within an officially-bilingual country. After his death on January 30, 1985, Scott was interred in

Mount Royal Cemetery Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, a Reform Judaism burial ground, is within the Mount Royal grounds. Th ...

, Montreal.

Recognition

Scott won the 1977 Governor General's Award for non-fiction for his ''Essays on the Constitution'' and the 1981 Governor General's Award for poetry for his ''Collected Poems''.F.R. Scott: Biography
" Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto. Web, March 21, 2011. The

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

elected Scott a fellow in 1947, and awarded him its

Lorne Pierce Medal The Lorne Pierce Medal is awarded every two years by the Royal Society of Canada to recognize achievement of special significance and conspicuous merit in imaginative or critical literature written in either English or French. The medal was first a ...

in 1962. Scott won the

Molson Prize The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...

in 1965. In 1966, Scott received an honorary doctorate from

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène S ...

, which later became

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

added music to Scott's

villanelle A villanelle, also known as villanesque,Kastner 1903 p. 279 is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repe ...

, "A Villanelle for Our Time", and recorded it on his album ''

Dear Heather ''Dear Heather'' is the 11th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released by Columbia Records in 2004. It was dedicated "in memory of Jack McClelland 1922-2004." Background The album features Cohen experimenting with diffe ...

''. Scott is the subject of a number of critical works, as well as a major biography, ''The Politics of the Imagination: A Life of F. R. Scott'' by

Sandra Djwa Sandra Djwa (born April 16, 1939) is a Canadian writer, critic and cultural biographer. Originally from Newfoundland, she moved to British Columbia where she obtained her PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1968. In 1999, she was h ...

Publications

Poetry

* ''Overture''. Toronto: Ryerson Press,

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

. *''Events and Signals''. Toronto: Ryerson Press,

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. *''The Eye of the Needle: Satire, Sorties, Sundries''. Montreal: Contact Press,

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

. *''Signature''. Vancouver: Klanak Press,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. *''Selected Poems''. Toronto: Oxford University Press,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. *''Trouvailles: Poems from Prose''. Montreal: Delta Canada,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. *''The Dance Is One''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

. *''The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Translations

*''St-Denys Garneau & Anne Hebert: Translations/Traductions''. Translated by F. R. Scott. Vancouver: Klanak Press,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

. *''Poems of French Canada''. Translated by F. R. Scott. Burnaby, BC: Blackfish Press,

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. ''Except where indicated, bibliographical information on poetry courtesy of Canadian Poetry Online.''F.R. Scott: Publications
," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, May 7, 2011.

Non-fiction

*''Social Reconstruction and the B.N.A. Act'' – 1934 *''Labour Conditions in the Men's Clothing Industry'' – 1935 (with H. M. Cassidy) *''Social Planning for Canada'' – 1935. *''Canada Today: A Study of Her National Interests and National Policy'' – 1938 *''Canada's Role in World Affairs'' – 1942 *''Make This Your Canada: A Review of C.C.F. History and Policy'' – 1943 (with David Lewis) *''Cooperation for What? United States and British Commonwealth'' – 1944 *''The World War Against Poverty'' – 1953 (with R. A. MacKay and A. E. Ritchie) *''What Does Labour Need in a Bill of Rights'' – 1959 *''The Canadian Constitution and Human Rights'' – 1959 *''Civil Liberties and Canadian Federalism'' – 1959 *''Dialogue sur la traduction'' – 1970 (with Anne Hebert) *''Essays on the Constitution: Aspects of Canadian Law and Politics'' – 1977 *

Edited

*'' New Provinces: Poems of Several Authors'' (with A. J. M. Smith and

). Toronto: Macmillan, 1936. *''The Blasted Pine: An Anthology of Satire, Invective and Disrespectful Verse'' – 1957 (with A. J. M. Smith)

Discography

* ''Six Montreal Poets''. New York: Folkways Records, 1957. Includes A. J. M. Smith, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, F. R. Scott, Louis Dudek, and A. M. Klein. (cassette, 60 mins) *''Canadian Poets on Tape''. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1969, 1971. (cassette, 30 mins) *''A Poetry Reading''. Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1982. (cassette, 60 mins) *''Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets CD'' London, Ontario:

Canadian Poetry Association 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 ...

— 1999 (CD#4) (with

James Reaney James Crerar Reaney, (September 1, 1926 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol." Reaney won Canada's highest literary a ...

) ''Except where noted, discographical information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.''

References

External links

University of Calgary biography
– 6 poems (Lakeshore, Laurentian Shield, The Canadian Authors Meet, A Grain of Rice, W.L.M.K., Resurrection) * http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/scott_fr/pub.htm *Archives of F.R. Scot
(Francis Reginald Scott fonds, R5822)
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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Frank 1899 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian poets Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Anglican poets Anglican socialists Anglophone Quebec people Bishop's University alumni Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery Canadian Anglicans Canadian Christian socialists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian male poets Canadian modernist poets Bishop's College School alumni Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Rhodes Scholars Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers Governor General's Award-winning poets Lawyers in Quebec McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Academic staff of the McGill University Faculty of Law Canadian scholars of constitutional law Writers from Quebec City