
Napoléon Aubin (9 November 1812 – 12 June 1890), christened Aimé-Nicolas, was born from a Swiss family in
Chêne-Bougeries
Chêne-Bougeries is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
History
Chêne-Bougeries is first mentioned in 1270 as ''Quercus''. In 1801 it was mentioned as ''Chêne-les-Bougeries''.
Chêne-Bougeries was inhabited for most of its hi ...
, a district of
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...
, at the time a territory of France. He was a journalist, writer, publisher, scientist, musician and lithographer.
Biography
Little is known about the youth of Napoléon Aubin. He left school when he was about 16. The son of Pierre Louis Charles Aubin and Elisabeth Escuyer, he emigrated to New York in 1829 where he was to be a pastor in
Biddeford
Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco, Maine, Saco and Biddeford include t ...
,
Maine
Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
. In 1835 he moved to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
, and then again to
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 ...
, later that year.
[Piazza, François. ''Le Mémorial de Québec: Le Québec de 1839 à 1889''. société des Éditions du mémorial, 1980, p.22] Aubin served as editor for numerous newspapers and magazines, including ''
Le Canadien
''Le Canadien'' () was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: ''"Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits"'' (Our institutions, our language, our rights). It was released ...
'', ''
L'Ami du peuple
''L'Ami du peuple'' (, ''The Friend of the People'') was a newspaper written by Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution. "The most celebrated radical paper of the Revolution", according to historian Jeremy D. Popkin, ''L’Ami du peuple'' ...
'', ''de l'ordre et des lois'' (Law and Order), and ''La Tribune''. In 1865, he launched the paper ''Les veillées du père Bonsens''. A satirist, he wrote works in support of the ''
Patriote'' movement, publishing his stories in ''Le Fantasque'', a magazine he himself founded. He spent 53 days in prison for publishing a poem by
Joseph-Guillaume Barthe, ''Aux exilés politiques canadiens''. Aubin considered himself a liberal and a democrat, and in line with
Étienne Parent
Étienne Parent (May 2, 1802 in Beauport, Lower Canada – December 22, 1874 in Ottawa) was a Canadian journalist and government official.
He was editor of the newspaper ''Le Canadien'' and, as such, supported French Canadian journalism and wr ...
, chose not participate in the
Rebellion of 1837. In 1847, he published ''Manifeste adressé au peuple du Canada par le Comité constitutionnel de la réforme et du progrès'' (A Manifesto Addressed to the People of Canada by the Constitutional Committee for Reform and Progress), where he supported the ideas of
Louis-Joseph Papineau
Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lowe ...
. Notably, while on a trip to the U.S. he met
Ulysses S. Grant, where they discussed the possibility of a union between Canada and the United States.
Aubin was married to Marie Luce Emilie in 1841, and had a son, Eugénie Aubin, who was born in 1853. In 1866, Aubin returned to Montreal in 1866, where he became a member of the Canadian Institute of Montreal in 1869. From 1875 until his death in 1890, he served as Honorary Consul to Switzerland in Montreal. A Calvinist by faith, his funeral was conducted by a Presbyterian minister.
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Jean-Paul Tremblay, ''Aimé-Nicolas dit Napoléon Aubin, sa vie et son œuvre, thèse de doctorat'', Laval: Laval University Press, 1965.
* Jean-Paul Tremblay, ''À la recherche de Napoléon Aubin'', Laval: Laval University Press, 1969.
* Mario Brassard and Marilène Gill (editors), ''Contes et récits'', Paroisse Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges
uebec Éditions Trois-Pistoles 2002.
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubin, Napoleon
1812 births
1890 deaths
Canadian newspaper journalists
Canadian chemists
19th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Canadian journalists
Canadian male journalists
Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French
Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
19th-century Canadian male writers
Journalists from Montreal
Writers from Quebec City
19th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Swiss emigrants to Canada
Scientists from Montreal
Writers from Montreal
Swiss chemists
19th-century Canadian scientists