Émile Ollivier (February 19, 1940 – November 10, 2002) was a

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an-born educator and writer living in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. He was considered one of the most important Haitian writers of his time. He was born in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

and, after studying at the Lycée in Port-au-Prince, went on to study philosophy at the École normale supérieure d'Haïti and literature and psychology in France. Following the rise to power by

François Duvalier François Duvalier (; 14 April 190721 April 1971), also known as Papa Doc, was a Haiti, Haitian politician and Haitian Vodou, Vodouisant who served as the president of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. He was elected president in the 195 ...

, Ollivier left Haiti for France in 1964. In 1965, he came to Quebec, first settling in

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

in the

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

region, where he taught school, and later moving 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 ...

. Ollivier worked as a coordinator for the Quebec

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

from 1973 to 1976. From 1977 to 1980, he was an administrator at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

. He was a professor of

andragogy Andragogy refers to methods and principles used in adult education. The word comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek ἀνδρ- (''andr-''), meaning "adult male", and ἀγωγός (''agogos''), meaning "leader of". Therefore, andragogy literally means ...

in the Education Sciences department of the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

for 25 years. He married Marie-José Glémaud. In 1993, Ollivier was named a Chevalier in the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

. In 2000, he was named a Chevalier in the French

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

and was named a member of the

Académie des lettres du Québec The Académie des lettres du Québec is a national academy for Quebec writers. It was founded as the Académie canadienne-française in 1944 by Victor Barbeau and a group of writers. In 1992 it changed its name to the Académie des lettres du Québ ...

. He died in Montreal at the age of 62. He was entombed at the Sainte-Marguerite-d'Youville Mausoleum 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. The was established by the Quebec Conseil supérieur de la langue française in 2004 and was awarded until 2014.

Selected works

* ''1946/1976: Trente ans de Pouvoir Noir en Haïti'', essay (1976), with Cary Hector and Claude Moïse * ''Paysage de l'aveugle'', stories (1977) * ''Mère-solitude'', novel (1983), received the Prix Jacques Roumain * ''La discorde aux cents voix'', novel (1986), received the Grand Prix de la prose from

Le Journal de Montréal is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Pé ...

* ''Passages'', novel (1991), received the * ''Repenser Haïti; grandeur et misères d'un mouvement démocratique'', essay (1992), with Claude Moïse * ''Les urnes scellées'', novel (1995), received the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde * ''Mille Eaux'', novel (1999) * ''Repérages'', essay (2001), was a finalist for a Governor General's Award for Literary Merit * ''La Brûlerie'', novel (2005), published after his death

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ollivier, Emile 1940 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Haitian novelists Haitian male novelists Haitian essayists Canadian male essayists Haitian male short story writers Haitian short story writers Writers from Port-au-Prince Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Canadian novelists in French Haitian expatriates in Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian essayists Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Novelists from Quebec