Roger Lemelin, (April 7, 1919 – March 16, 1992) was a

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 ...

novelist, television writer and essayist.

Biography

Lemelin was born 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 ...

. From 1944 to 1952, he was a Canadian correspondent for the American magazines ''Time'' and ''Life'' and, from 1972 to 1981, chief executive officer and editor of '' La Presse''. In 1980 he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

Honours and awards

*Prix David (1944) *Prize from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

(1944) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

*Fellowship in 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 ...

*Honorary doctorate from

Laurentian University Laurentian University (french: Université Laurentienne), officially the Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Lau ...

*Chevalier de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

*Canadian corresponding membership in the

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Go ...

*Honorary membership in the Union des écrivains québécois.

Works

* ''Au pied de la pente douce (The Town Below)'', 1947 * ''Les Plouffe (The Plouffe Family)'', 1948 * ''Fantaisies sur les péchés capitaux'', 1949 * ''Pierre le magnifique (In Quest of Splendour)'', 1952 * ''

The Bird Fancier ''The Bird Fancier'' (french: L'Homme aux oiseaux) is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Bernard Devlin and Jean Palardy and released in 1952. Written by Roger Lemelin, the film tells the story of a man whose passion for birds is bordering ...

(L'Homme aux oiseaux)'', 1952 * ''Les Voies de l'espérance'', 1979 * ''La Culotte en or'', 1980 * ''Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe'', 1982 * ''Autopsie d'un fumeur'', 1988

References

"Roger Lemelin" in ''Canadian Writers''
an examination of archival manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, journals and notebooks at Library and Archives Canada

External links

Roger Lemelin's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

* Archives of Roger Lemeli
(Fonds Roger Lemelin, R11859)
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 ...

1919 births 1992 deaths Canadian male novelists Officers of the National Order of Quebec Companions of the Order of Canada Writers from Quebec City Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian screenwriters in French Canadian television writers 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian novelists in French Canadian male screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian male television writers {{Quebec-writer-stub