Émile-Dostaler O'Leary (16 August 1908 – 18 April 1965) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and writer.

Biography

Émile-Dostaler O'Leary was born in

Berthierville, Quebec Berthierville (; ) (also called Berthier-en-haut, and legally called Berthier before 1942) is a town located between Montreal and Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Berthierville is the seat of D'Aut ...

and attended the ''Collège Saint-Joseph'' in Berthierville before travelling to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

to study at the ''"Petit Séminaire de Basse-Wavre"'' and, later, the

University of Burgundy The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...

(

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) and

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

. He completed a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

at the ''Institut de chimie Meurice''. After returning from Europe, O'Leary completed an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

ship in the

chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials ( oil, natural gas, air, ...

from 1933 to 1937. He subsequently pursued journalism and joined '' La Patrie''. He worked at ''La Patrie'' until 1957, when he became director of

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

's Department of External Relations—a position he held until 1958. In 1959, he began working as a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he also served as Canadian correspondent for several

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

newspapers.

Activism

O'Leary was a

Quebec nationalist Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...

and member of Jeune-Canada. With his brother Walter-Patrice, he co-founded the Young Patriots of French Canada () and the Knights of the Round Table of Canada () in 1935, and the Cultural Union of Mexico–French Canada (), which was later renamed the Union of Latin America (), in 1939. During the Canadian federal election of 1945, he stood as a candidate for the

Bloc Populaire Canadien The (, ), often shortened to the Bloc populaire or the Bloc, was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942, by opponents of conscription during the Second World War. The party ran ...

in the Laurier district. He placed second in the contest with 5,145 votes, losing to incumbent Liberal

Ernest Bertrand Ernest Bertrand, (December 14, 1888 – October 11, 1958) was a Canadian politician. Born in Somerset, Quebec, he was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada representing the Quebec riding of Laurier in the 1935 federal election. ...

. O'Leary was a representative to the executive of the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

and, in 1950, founded the

International Francophone Press Union The International Francophone Press Union (, UPF) is a Francophone association of journalists. Founded in 1950, it is the world's oldest Francophone organisation, and has more than 3,000 members in 110 countries. History The association was fou ...

(, UPF). He served as the UPF's president from 1950 to 1955. He also involved himself with the formation of the Canadian Union of French-language Journalists ().

Personal life

O'Leary was born to Émile O'Leary and Fébronie Dostaler and had two sisters—Marguerite and Alice—and a brother, Walter-Patrice. He married Lucille Lévesque on 15 April 1939, at the age of 30. He fathered four children: Marie-France, Denis,

Étienne O'Leary Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Artists and entertainers * ...

, and Véronique. O'Leary died on 18 April 1965 in Paris, aged 56, from undisclosed causes.

Publications

* ''L'"inferiority complex"'', 1935 (English translation: ''The "inferiority complex"'') * ''Séparatisme, doctrine constructive'', 1936 (English translation: ''Separatism: a constructive doctrine'') * ''Jeunes du Québec et France d'aujourd'hui'' 1941 (English translation: ''Youth of Quebec and France today'') * ''Introduction à l'histoire de l'Amérique latine'', 1949 (English translation: ''Introduction to the history of Latin America'') * ''Le roman canadien-français : étude historique et critique''. Montreal: Le Cercle du Livre de France, 1954. (English translation: ''The French-Canadian novel: A historical and critical study'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Emile-Dostaler Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian non-fiction writers in French Journalists from Quebec People from Lanaudière Writers from Quebec 1908 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers