Arthur de Bussières (January 20, 1877 – May 7, 1913) was a Canadian poet from

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."Bussières, Arthur de (fonds, P83)"
Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française (

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

Life

He was born in

in 1877 to a poor family. There is evidence that his birth name was Arthur Bussières, and that the

nobiliary particle A nobiliary particle is a type of onomastic particle used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it ...

"de" was later added as a

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

.David M. Hayne, "Arthur de Bussières, poète, et l’Ecole littéraire de Montréal, suivi by Wilfrid Paquin, IC (review)". '' University of Toronto Quarterly'', Volume 57, Number 1 (Fall 1987). pp. 178-179. He joined the École littéraire de Montréal in 1896 and became a close friend of

Émile Nelligan Émile Nelligan (December 24, 1879 – November 18, 1941) was a Canadian Symbolist poet from Montreal who wrote in French. Even though he stopped writing poetry after being institutionalized at the age of 19, Nelligan remains an iconic figur ...

, Charles Gill, Henry Desjardins, Albert Lozeau and Joseph Melançon. Several of his early poems were published in anthologies edited by Louis Dantin, and later in journals including ''Le Monde illustré'', ''Le Passe-Temps'', ''L'Avenir'', ''L'Étudiant'', ''La Revue populaire'', ''Les Débats'', ''L'Alliance nationale'' and ''Anthologie des poètes canadiens''.Wilfrid Paquin, ''Arthur de Bussières, poète, et l'École littéraire de Montréal''. Fides, 1986. . His writing style was generally labelled as Parnassian, and as most strongly influenced by

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna Ca ...

.Émile Talbot, ''Reading Nelligan''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. . p. 10. He supported himself primarily as a house painter, according to official sources; after Nelligan was committed to an

insane asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

in 1899, Bussières virtually disappeared from the ''École littéraire'', and published only a very small amount of work in the next decade until reemerging in 1910.Gaëtan Dostie
"Nelligan et de Bussières créés par Dantin ?"
''Le Patriote''. Republished by the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (, ) is an institution in the Canadian province of Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic association in ...

of Montreal, July 22, 2015. He had not published a standalone poetry collection as of 1913, when he died of

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

at age 36; the collection ''Les Bengalis'', comprising all of his surviving poetry, was posthumously published in 1931.

Legacy

Bussières is now best known for his role in historical investigation into the question of Nelligan's

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

; there is circumstantial evidence but no definitive proof that the two men may have had a romantic or sexual relationship.Dominic Dagenais, ''Grossières indécences: Pratiques et identités homosexuelles à Montréal, 1880-1929''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020. . p. 205. Within the ''École littéraire de Montréal'' circle, it was widely believed that Nelligan was institutionalized because his mother discovered him and Bussières ''

in flagrante delicto ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence"), sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing"), is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...

'', but that rumor was not widely publicized until the late 20th-century and remains unsubstantiated. Bussières was also alleged by a contemporary, Jean-Aubert Loranger, to have supplemented his income as a house painter by also working as a

male prostitute Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. M ...

. A biography of Bussières, ''Arthur de Bussières, poète, et l'École littéraire de Montréal'', was published by Wilfrid Paquin in 1986.

In popular culture

Bussières was portrayed by

David La Haye David La Haye (born April 19, 1966) is a Canadian actor. Career He began his career in films in Yves Simoneau's ''Dans le ventre du dragon'' opposite such veteran stars as Rémy Girard and Pierre Curzi. With piercing eyes and an intense phy ...

in the 1991 biopic '' Nelligan''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussieres, Arthur 1877 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Canadian poets 19th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets Canadian poets in French Poets from Montreal