Victor-Lévy Beaulieu (; September 2, 1945 – June 9, 2025) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

writer, playwright, and editor. Born in Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Quebec, in the area of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

, Beaulieu began primary school at

Trois-Pistoles, Quebec Trois-Pistoles () is a city (Quebec), city in Les Basques Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is also the county seat. The town is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. A ferry c ...

, moving later to

Montréal-Nord Montreal North (, ) is a borough within the city of Montreal, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montreal North on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. It was amalgamated into the City of Montreal on January 1, 2002. ...

. He began his public writing career at the Montreal weekly ''Perspectives'', where he served as a columnist for a decade from 1966 to 1976. In 1967, he became a copywriter at '' La Presse'', ''Petit Journal'', ''Digest Éclair'', and finally at ''Maintenant'' in 1970. In 1967 he won the Larousse-Hachette Prize thanks to an eighteen-page essay devoted to

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

. In 1968, he spent a year in Paris, and on his return became a scriptwriter at the Montreal radio station CKLM while resuming his position of columnist. Also in 1968, he published his first novel ''Mémoires d'outre-tonneau''. This would be the first of a long run: ''Race de monde'' (1969), ''La nuite de Malcomm Hudd'' (1969, ''Jos Connaissant'' (1970), ''Les Grands Pères'' (1971), ''Un rêve québécois'' (1972), ''Oh Miami Miami Miami'' (1973), and ''Don Quichotte de la démanche'' (1974). Beaulieu served as a teacher of literature at the National Theatre School of Canada from 1972 to 1978, and also wrote for the

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

broadcasts "Documents", "Petit théâtre", "Roman", and "La Feuillaison". His book, ''James Joyce, l'Irlande et le Québec'', has been praised by critics. Beaulieu also worked in the field of publishing. During his time at Les Éditions du Jour as literary editor from 1969 to 1973, he hastened to build the collection Répertoire québécois. In 1973, he founded his own publishing house, Les Éditions de l'Aurore, which was followed by and finally by . In 2008 he threatened to burn copies of his entire body of work as a protest against the growth of bilingualism in Quebec and various statements by

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 ...

leader

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a Member of the National Assembly (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...

in support of English classes for francophone schoolchildren. Beaulieu created a stir after describing Canadian

governor general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian former journalist who served as the 27th governor general of Canada from 2005 to 2010. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person to hold this office. Jean was the Organisation i ...

as a "negro queen" in L'aut'journal magazine. Beaulieu said Jean was appointed to the post because she was "black, young, pretty, ambitious, and because of her husband, certainly a nationalist as well." In an interview with La Presse, Beaulieu defended his text, saying he had not intended to be racist. However, his eight references to the ''"reine nègre"'' caught the attention of

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

Leader

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...

and Bloc MP

Vivian Barbot Vivian Barbot (born July 7, 1941) is a Canadian teacher, activist, and politician. She is a former president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, a former member of Parliament and former vice-president of the Bloc Québécois. She was th ...

. Barbot told '' La Presse'' she found the text insulting and discriminatory, and a personal attack on Jean's character. Beaulieu wrote of the "small, black queen of

" and her visit to France, where she spoke about

Canadian federalism Canadian federalism () involves the current nature and historical development of the federal system in Canada. Canada is a federation with eleven components: the national Government of Canada and ten Provinces and territories of Canada, p ...

, but also saluted France for its abolition of slavery in 1847. Beaulieu noted Jean, a native of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, came from a country that long suffered the effects of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. Beaulieu died in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Quebec on June 9, 2025, at the age of 79.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Victor-Levy 1945 births 2025 deaths Writers from Quebec Canadian non-fiction writers in French Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French Prix Athanase-David winners Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Quebec sovereigntists People from Bas-Saint-Laurent Rhinoceros Party of Canada candidates in the 1979 Canadian federal election Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Independent candidates in Quebec provincial elections 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male non-fiction writers