Georges-Henri Lévesque (February 16, 1903 – January 15, 2000) 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 ...

Dominican priest and sociologist and a liberal figure during the conservative Duplessis era in Quebec.

Biography

Born in Roberval, Quebec, the son of Georges Lévesque and Laura Richard, he was ordained into the priesthood in 1928. He studied philosophy and theology at the Dominican College in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and social sciences at the School of Social Sciences of the Université Catholique de Lille (France). Lévesque was a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of

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 ...

from 1935 until 1938 and a professor of social philosophy at

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

from 1936 until 1962. In 1938, Lévesque founded the School of Social, Political and Economic Sciences of Laval University and was its first director from 1938 until 1943. The school became the Faculty of Social Sciences in 1943, and he was its first dean, from 1943 until 1955. Lévesque founded the Quebec Superior Council of Cooperation and was its first president, from 1939 until 1944. He founded the periodical ''Ensemble!'' and was its director, from 1939 until 1944. He was a member of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences in Canada (1949–1951). He was vice-president of the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

(1957–1962). He represented Canada at several international events. In 1963, he founded the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; , , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Provin ...

and he was its first president, from 1963 until 1971. Lévesque supported the co-operative movement and, through his faculty, helped create new social welfare bodies such as the Conseil supérieur de la coopération and the Société d'éducation des adultes, and to modernize Québec's church-controlled social welfare organizations. As well, his Faculty of Social Science trained a generation of union organizers. His liberal and social democratic ideas and work brought him into constant conflict with the government of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

and he is seen as one of the fathers of the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...

that transformed Quebec society after Duplessis's death. In 1955, Prime Minister

Louis St. Laurent Louis Stephen St. Laurent (; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957. Born and raised in southeastern Quebec, St. Laurent was a leading la ...

approached Lévesque about naming him to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

as a non-partisan appointee. Lévesque agreed and the Dominican Order gave its permission but the appointment was vetoed by Archbishop Maurice Roy due to concerns that allowing a priest to accept a political appointment could potentially embarrass the Church.

Honours

* He was the 1983 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in

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. * In 1967 he was made an officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and was promoted to companion in 1979. * In 1985 he was made an officer of 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 ...

. * He received honorary doctorates from fourteen universities. * A sculpted bust of him was erected on the grounds of Laval University in 2002.

Notes and references

External links

Pearson Medal of Peace - Georges-Henri Lévesque

Georges-Henri Lévesque
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

*
Révérend Père Georges-Henri Lévesque

Archive
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Université de Sherbrooke The Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS; Quebec English, English: ''University of Sherbrooke'') is a French-language Public university, public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the Mont ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levesque, Georges-Henri 1903 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests Canadian sociologists Officers of the National Order of Quebec Companions of the Order of Canada Knights of the Legion of Honour People from Roberval, Quebec Canadian Dominicans Academic staff of Université Laval Presidents of the Canadian Political Science Association 20th-century political scientists