Louis-Honoré Fréchette (; 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and the first Canadian to receive any honor from a European nation.

Early life and education

Fréchette was born on November 16, 1839, in

Lévis Lévis () is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, connect we ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. From 1854 to 1860, Fréchette did his classical studies at the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: , ) is a Catholic Church, Catholic community of Secular clergy, diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is ...

, the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and at the Séminaire de Nicolet. Fréchette first showed his rebelliousness when he studied at college. He later studied law at

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

Career

In 1864, he opened a lawyer's office in Lévis and founded two newspapers: ''Le drapeau de Lévis'' and ''La Tribune de Levis''. He exiled himself to 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 The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

. Fréchette returned to Quebec in 1871, where he was a Liberal candidate for Lévis in the provincial elections that year; he was not elected. However, in 1874, he was elected a Member of Parliament in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. He served in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1874 to 1878 as a

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

member from

. He was not re-elected in 1878. After that, he moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, where he began writing full-time, having inherited his aunt's wealth when she died. He was the first Quebecer to receive the

Montyon Prize The Montyon Prize () is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French Revolution, the B ...

of the

for his collection of poems ''Les Fleurs boréales, les oiseaux de neige'' (1879). In 1881, Queen's College, Kingston, honored him with LLD. In that same year, Fréchette would meet

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

in Montreal, whose writing he had much admired; indeed, the two would remain friends, exchanging works and favorite books. In the following year, Twain would toast Fréchette at an American welcoming banquet in

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

, joking about his regard for the translation of works that, in his fictitious "translation his réchette'spathetic 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." In 1897, Fréchette was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

. After he died in 1908, he was entombed at the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Ro ...

in Montreal. Canada Post issued a postage stamp in his honour on July 7, 1989. In 1991, Louis Honoré Fréchette Public School, a French immersion school, opened in Thornhill, Ontario.

Electoral record

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) * ''Quebec'' (1887)

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

Bibliography

* W. H. New, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002: 395–97.

External links

* * * *
''Notice biographique de Louis Fréchette at L'Île''
(in French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frechette, Louis 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 Poets 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 Canadian male writers Université Laval alumni Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada