Victor-Alphonse Huard (born Joseph-Alphonse, sometimes given as Joseph-Victor Alphonse; 28 February 1853 – 15 October 1929) was a
French-Canadian churchman, naturalist, writer and editor. He was a popular educator and promoter of the
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
, although his anti-
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
ist stance garnered him criticism both in
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 ...
and elsewhere. He was the founder or editor of several publications, most notably the ''
Naturaliste Canadien'', and wrote a number of manuals. Although not particularly qualified for the position, he became the first Provincial Entomologist of Quebec.
Biography
Huard (who occasionally wrote his name "Huart" until 1890) was born on 28 February 1853 in
Saint-Roch Saint-Roch may refer to:
In Canada:
*Saint-Roch, Quebec City, a neighbourhood of Quebec City
*Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec, a municipality
* Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, Quebec, a municipality
*Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Quebec, a municipality
*Saint-R ...
, a ward of
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
,
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 ...
. His father, Laurent Huard, was a joiner; his mother was Ursule Thérien. He attended the
Petit Séminaire of Quebec
Petite or petite may refer to:
*Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans
* ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua
* Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type
* Petit four
* Petit Gâteau
* ...
from 1863 to 1872, graduating with high standings.
He took an interest in
natural history as a result of an outing where he was
Léon Abel Provancher's hiking companion. He would for most of his life style himself Provancher's disciple, and from 1872 until Provancher's death the men maintained a correspondence.
Churchman at Chicoutimi
There were limited numbers of priests available in the
Saguenay region, as it had only recently been opened for
colonization, so Huard was sent to teach at the newly opened
Seminary of Chicoutimi, which acted as both a
minor seminary
A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...
(''Petit séminaire'', lit. "little seminary") and a seminary proper (''Grand séminaire'', lit. "great seminary"). Huard's slight stutter and shyness prevented him from ever assuming active parish duty, although he is described as an affable, passionate man and a competent musician.
Huard taught a number of classes including religion,
rhetorics, zoology and geography, and took on a number of positions in both institutions. He became the first director of the Grand Séminaire, and was successively or concurrently secretary, prefect of studies, vice-superior and superior of the Séminaire until 1899, stopping to teach in 1893 when he was vice-superior. In addition to those duties, he founded the seminary's bookstore and choir, organized the
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
, was curator of the museum, and co-founder and co-editor the Petit Séminaire's student newspaper. In 1895 he founded a religious publication, the ''Messager de Saint-Antoine'' ("St-Antony's Messenger").
Although he made use of his interests in natural history while teaching, it was not until 1894 that Huard had the chance to truly apply them, when he returned the ''
Naturaliste Canadien'', Provancher's monthly journal, to active publication. Although Provancher had hoped the new government would be willing to offer grants, Huard had to maintain the magazine alone until 1919 when the governments of
Lomer Gouin and
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec.
Early life
Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Thoma ...
began to offer financial assistance. Under Huard, the magazine was more popular and less technical than Provancher's version, although it maintained an anti-evolution stance. The ''Naturaliste'' was printed practically without interruption until Huard's death. Huard also acquired part of Provancher's papers and his
herbarium. Part of Provancher's last works would be published posthumously in the ''Naturaliste''.
Naturalist at Quebec
In 1901 he returned to Quebec City, where his career took a definitive turn toward science. Between 1905 and 1925 he wrote a number of successful science
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
s, mostly for
primary education. Although some were repeatedly reissued and used as the basis of other texts, they often garnered criticism for being too technical and suited more for teachers than pupils, or for their scientific qualities. His manual of
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
in particular is maligned:
Marie-Victorin
Brother Marie-Victorin, F.S.C. (April 3, 1885 – July 15, 1944), was a Canadian member of Brothers of the Christian Schools and a noted botanist in Quebec, Canada. He is known as the father of the Botanical Garden of Montreal.
Biograph ...
declines to review it,
Germain Beaulieu publicly vilipends it in ''
La Patrie'', and a writer in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
'' says it "dates from the previous century".
Joseph-Clovis-Kemner Laflamme
Joseph-Clovis-Kemner Laflamme (September 19, 1849 – July 6, 1910) was a Canadians, Canadian Roman Catholic priest, academic, and writer.
Born in Saint-Anselme, Quebec, Saint-Anselme, Lower Canada, the son of David Kemner dit Laflamme and Josepht ...
, another prominent naturalist, also criticized Huard's Zoology schoolbook.
These disputes didn't prevent Huard from rising in visibility, mostly thanks to his work at the ''Naturaliste'' and textbooks. He became curator at the Musée de l'Instruction Publique, the Parliament's museum, in 1904, and would keep the post until 1927. In 1913 he was appointed Provincial Entomologist, a nomination that surprised other naturalists, as Huard himself, despite his affinities, was not a particularly competent naturalist and never followed college-level classes. He would last two years at the post before being replaced by
Georges Maheux. He was also editor of ''La Semaine religieuse de Québec'' ("Quebec Weekly Religious Courier"), another periodical founded by Provancher, between 1901 and 1913.
Huard had great ambitions. He hoped to complete Provancher's great work on the insects of the provinces, but only managed before his death to finish the volume on diurnal
lepidoptera, leaving
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
s,
aptera and
diptera unfinished. He did complete a biography of Provancher, however, which was first published in the ''Naturaliste'', then in book form. This work, despite being more
hagiographic
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
than historic, remains the only full-blown biography of Provancher. Amongst his other publications are a history of the church in Saguenay, notes from a travel in the
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...
region (one of the first natural history descriptions of that region) and the
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
article on the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicoutimi.
Influence and legacy
Amongst various awards, Huard became a member of the scientific section of the
Royal Society of Canada in 1913. In 1916, he was awarded a
D.Sc.
Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
''honoris causa'' degree from
Université Laval
Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...
. He was also granted the
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy.
History
The medal was established by Leo XIII o ...
cross (1903) and became an honorary
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
in 1915.
Pope Pius XI granted him a special apostolic blessing in 1924; news of his appointment as
domestic prelate of the pope was received the day after his death. A modern provincial wildlife sanctuary,
Victor-A.-Huard Ecological Reserve, was created in 1990 near
Kenogami Lake
Kenogami lake is a long lake in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of south-central Quebec, Canada. Situated at an altitude of , the lake is long and deep. "Kénogami" means "long lake" in the Montagnais dialect and was originally used to ref ...
and is named after him. A lake and river in
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...
are also named after him, the
Lac de l' Abbé Huard and
Rivière de l' Abbé Huard.
In 2003, his entomological collections were acquired by Laval University from the Séminaire, and had to be thoroughly restored for the second time (the first time was in 1960). They contain approximatively 8 000 specimens representing 3 000 species, mostly from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and the area around Quebec City.
Huard acted as a link between the 19th century scientific period and the scientific revival of early 20th century Quebec, and was a model for those of his days. His major contribution was the publication of his natural history books, who were needed to replace the existing ones who, imported from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, adapted poorly for Canadian realities. He was also instrumental in keeping the work of Provancher from being too harshly misjudged. No biography of Huard has been published, although
Conrad Laforte's
MLSc Thesis, a bio-bibliography of him, come close.
See also
*
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huard, Victor Alphonse
1853 births
1929 deaths
Canadian naturalists
Scientists from Quebec
Canadian magazine editors
Writers from Quebec City
19th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests
Catholic clergy scientists
Canadian writers in French
Academic journal editors
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Université Laval alumni
19th-century Canadian scientists