Gérald Godin (November 13, 1938 – October 12, 1994) was a Canadian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

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, ...

. Born in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, he worked as a journalist at '' La Presse'' and other newspapers and magazines. His most important poetry collection, ''Les cantouques: poèmes en langue verte, populaire et quelquefois française'', was published in 1967. He was among those arrested under the

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brough ...

during the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

in 1970. In the 1976 Quebec provincial election, he won a seat as a candidate for the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

, heavily defeating incumbent

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 ...

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...

in his own riding of Mercier. He served in various cabinet posts in the governments of

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

and Pierre-Marc Johnson. His life companion was the Québécois singer

Pauline Julien Pauline Julien, (May 23, 1928October 1, 1998), nicknamed "La Renarde", was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec,Christian Rioux and Betty Nygaard King."Pauline Julien" ''Th ...

. As a poet, he won the

Prix Québec-Paris Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

for his 1987 work ''Ils ne demandaient qu'à brûler''. Godin died from brain cancer in October 1994. The area surrounding the Mont-Royal metro station has been named Place Gérald-Godin in his honour. One of his poems, ''Tango de Montréal'', is displayed as a mural overlooking the square. Cégep Gérald-Godin (college), in

Sainte-Geneviève Saint Genevieve or Sainte-Geneviève may refer to: * Saint Genevieve (419/422–512), the patron of Paris * Saint Geneviève de Loqueffret (10th century), a local saint from Loqueffret Parish close, Loqueffret, Brittany Buildings * Bibliothèque ...

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 ...

, is named after him.

Electoral record

References

External links

Gérald Godin's
entry in

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 ...

* 1938 births 1994 deaths Parti Québécois MNAs Journalists from Quebec Poets from Quebec 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets People from Trois-Rivières Canadian poets in French October Crisis Canadian male non-fiction writers Deaths from cancer in Quebec Neurological disease deaths in Quebec Deaths from brain cancer in Canada 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec {{Quebec-writer-stub

See also

Electoral record

References

External links