Félix-Antoine Savard, (August 31, 1896 – August 24, 1982) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

priest, academic, poet, novelist and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

. Born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...

, he grew up in Chicoutimi,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, 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 ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1918 and was ordained a priest in 1922. He occupied several ecclesiastical positions in

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlan ...

and Saguenay before founding the parish of Clermont in Charlevoix. While in Clermont, Savard explored the Charlevoix countryside and became well acquainted with the local log drivers. The mountains of Charlevoix were the setting for his 1937 novel '' Menaud, maître draveur'' which made him famous and earned him a medal from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. It remains to this day one of the best-known works of Quebec literature. Like Maria Chapdeleine, the title character Menaud has become a key figure in Quebec's national identity. He joined the Faculty of Arts at

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 Mont ...

in 1945 and from 1950 to 1957 was its dean.

Works

* ''Menaud maître-draveur'', novel, Québec, Librairie Garneau, 1937 (translation: ''Boss of the river'', translated by Alan Sullivan, Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1947). * ''L'abatis'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, , 1943. * ''La Minuit'', novel, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1948. * ''Martin et le pauvre'', legend, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1959. * ''Le Barachois'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1959. * ''La Folle'', play, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1960. * ''La Dalle-des-morts'', play, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1965. * ''La Symphonie du Misereror'', Ottawa, Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 1968. * ''Le Bouscueuil'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1972. * ''La roche Ursule'', poems, Québec, 1972. Ce poème est extrait du ''Bouscueil''. * ''Journal et souvenirs'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1973. * ''Aux marges du silence'', poems, Québec, Librairie Garneau, 1975.

Honours

* In 1945, he was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal. *

1959 Governor General's Awards The 1959 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the 24th rendition of the Governor General's Awards, Canada's annual national awards program which then comprised literary awards alone. The awards recognized Canadian writers for new work ...

for ''Malgré tout, la joie''. * In 1968, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

. * In 1969, he was awarded the

Prix Athanase-David The Prix Athanase-David is a literary award presented annually by the government of Quebec as part of the Prix du Québec to a Quebec writer, to honour the body of his or her work. The prize, named in honour of longtime MNA Athanase David Lo ...

. * In 2005, his book ''Menaud, maître-draveur'' (Boss of the River) (1937) was selected as one of Canada's 100 Most Important Books by the ''Literary Review of Canada''.

References

External links

* Archives of Félix-Antoine Savar
(Fonds Félix-Antoine Savard, R11830)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savard, Felix-Antoine 1896 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian university and college faculty deans Canadian poets in French Officers of the Order of Canada Writers from Quebec City Writers from Saguenay, Quebec Prix Athanase-David winners Governor General's Award-winning poets Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian novelists in French Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Academic staff of Université Laval 20th-century non-fiction writers