François-Xavier Garneau (June 15, 1809 – February 2 or February 3, 1866) was a nineteenth-century

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

notary, poet, civil servant and liberal who wrote a three-volume history of the French Canadian nation entitled ''Histoire du Canada'' between 1845 and 1848.

Biography

Garneau was born in

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and in 1821 he entered a school which had been opened in the basement of the chapel of the Congrégation des Hommes de la Haute Ville. Then Garneau educated at Quebec seminary, studied law, and was admitted as a notary in 1830. Subsequently, he became clerk of the legislative assembly, member of the council of public instruction, and city clerk of Quebec, which office he held from 1845 until his death on February 2 or February 3, 1866. Garneau was an honorary member of literary and historical societies in the United States and Canada, and for several years president of the Institut Canadien of Quebec.

''Histoire du Canada''

Garneau argued that the Conquest was a tragedy, the consequence of which was a perpetual struggle against the forces of English Canada for the French Canadian nation; this struggle would continue into the future as long as French Canadians were under the oppressive reign of the British. The book was originally written as a response to the Durham

report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...

, which claimed that French Canadian culture was stagnant and that it would be best served through Anglophone assimilation. It was first translated in 1866 and by then "the accepted national history" of French Canadians.

Legacy

François-Xavier Garneau Medal

The François-Xavier Garneau Medal is the highest award given by the Canadian Historical Association and is given once every five years for an outstanding Canadian contribution to historical research. Recipients were: Louise Dechêne (1980), Michael Bliss (1985), John M. Beattie (1990), Joy Parr (1995), Gérard Bouchard (2000), Timothy Brook (2005), John C. Weaver (2010) and Bettina Bradbury (2015).

2010 Winter Olympics

Canadian actor Donald Sutherland narrated the following quote from one of his poems at the opening ceremonies of the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. :''In what other climate does the Queen of Silence'' :''Show us more splendour?'' :''I love, Oh Canada, night, the vast plain'' :''Shining with whiteness!''

Works

* ''Histoire du Canada depuis sa découverte jusqu'à nos jours'', 1845–52, 1st ed. ( BAnQ
vol. 1234
, 1852, 2d ed., 1859, 3rd ed., 1882, 4th ed.( IA
vol. 1234
* ''Voyage en Angleterre et en France, dans les années 1831, 1832 et 1833'', 1855. (BAnQ
online
* ''Abrégé de l'histoire du Canada, depuis sa découverte jusqu'à 1840 : à l'usage des maisons d'éducation'', 1858 (IA
online
* ''History of Canada: From the Time of its Discovery Till the Union Year'', 1860 (IA
vol. 123
* ''Additions à l'histoire du Canada'', 1864 (BAnQ
online

References

Notes

English

* Savard, Pierre.
Garneau, François-Xavier
, in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', Historica Fondation. 2008 * Savard, Pierre and Paul Wyczienski.
Garneau, François-Xavier
, in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'', University of Toronto and Université Laval, 2000

French

* Brunet, Berthelot.
Dossier François-Xavier Garneau
, in ''L'Encyclopédie de l'Agora'', updated May 25, 2006 * Gallichan, Gilles, Kenneth Landry and Denis Saint-Jacques (1998). ''François-Xavier Garneau, une figure nationale'', Québec: Éditions Nota bene, 39 p. () * Bergeron, Gérard (1994). ''Lire François-Xavier Garneau, 1809-1866 : historien national'', Québec: Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture, 244 p. * Garneau, François-Xavier (1968). ''Voyage en Angleterre et en France dans les années 1831, 1832 et 1833'', Ottawa, Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 379 p. Collection «Présence». (critical edition Paul Wyczynski) * Wyczynski, Paul (1966). ''François-Xavier Garneau : aspects littéraires de son oeuvre'', Ottawa : Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 207 p. * Lanctot, Gustave (1946). ''Garneau, historien national'', Montréal: Fides, 1946, 205 p. * Robitaille, Georges (1966). ''Études sur Garneau : critique historique'', Montréal: Librairie d'Action canadienne-française ltée, 1929, 253 p. * Casgrain, Henri-Raymond (1926). ''F.-X. Garneau et Francis Parkman'', Montréal: Librairie Beauchemin, limitée, 123 p. * Casgrain, Henri-Raymond (1924). ''De Gaspé et Garneau'', Montréal: Librairie Beauchemin, limitée, 123 p. * Lanctot, Gustave (1923). ''François Xavier Garneau'', Toronto: Ryerson, 1923, 197 p. * Casgrain, Henri-Raymond (1912). ''F.X. Garneau et Francis Parkman'', Montréal: Librairie Beauchemin, limitée, 139 p. * Casgrain, Henri-Raymond (1866). ''Biographie de F.X. Garneau'', Montréal: Beauchemin & Valois, libraires-imprimeurs, 115 p. * Chauveau, Pierre-Joseph-Olivier (1883). ''François-Xavier Garneau : sa vie et ses oeuvres'', Montréal: Beauchemin & Valois, libraires-imprimeurs
online
* Casgrain, Henri-Raymond (1866). ''F.X. Garneau'', Québec: J.N. Duquet, éditeur, 135 p.
online

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garneau, Francois-Xavier 1809 births 1866 deaths 19th-century Canadian historians 19th-century Canadian male writers 19th-century Canadian poets Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian male poets Canadian poets in French Historians from Quebec Members of the Institut canadien de Montréal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Pre-Confederation Quebec people Poets from Quebec