Louis Hémon (12 October 1880 – 8 July 1913), was a French writer, best known for his novel '' Maria Chapdelaine''.

Biography

Louis Hémon was born in Brest, France. In Paris, where he resided with his family, he was enrolled in the Montaigne and Louis-le-Grand secondary schools. A bilingual secretary in several maritime agencies, he collaborated, starting from 1904, in a Parisian sports journal. After his studies of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

oriental languages Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...

in the Sorbonne, he moved to London. In 1911, he moved to Canada, settling initially in Montreal. Hémon wrote ''Maria Chapdelaine'' during his time working at a farm in the

Lac Saint-Jean Lac Saint-Jean (, ) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of , and is ...

region. Hémon died when he was struck by a train at Chapleau,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He never saw the widespread publication of his landmark novel. Since his death, ''Maria Chapdelaine'' has been translated into more than 20 languages in 23 countries,Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hemon; illustrated by Rajka Kupesic
at www.tundrabooks.com while other novels were published posthumously. The work was also celebrated through a series of paintings by Canadian artist, Rajka Kupesic. Hémon had one daughter, Lydia-Kathleen, from a relationship in England with Lydia O'Kelly. He is the subject of two biographical studies, ''L'aventure Louis Hémon'' (1974) by Alfred Ayotte and Victor Tremblay, and ''Louis Hémon, le fou du lac'' by Mathieu-Robert Sauvé.

Bibliography

* 1908: ''Lizzie Blakeston'' * 1913: '' Maria Chapdelaine'' * 1923: ''La Belle que voilà'' * 1924: ''Colin-Maillard'' * 1926: ''Battling Malone, pugiliste'' * 1950: ''Monsieur Ripois et la Némésis''

Notes

External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* * * *

accessed 3 July 2006

accessed 3 July 2006 * 1880 births 1913 deaths Writers from Brest, France 20th-century French novelists Canadian novelists in French Railway accident deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Ontario Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni French male novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century French male writers Novelists from Quebec {{France-novelist-19thC-stub