Pierre Baillargeon
Pierre Baillargeon was a Canadian writer and intellectual, born on September 10, 1916, in Montreal, Quebec. He pursued medical studies in France, where he met his future wife, Jacqueline Mabit, before returning to Canada in 1940. Over his career, Baillargeon became a prominent figure in the literary community, serving as the founder and director of the publication Amerique Française and contributing to various French-language newspapers. He was a vocal critic of the Roman Catholic Church and the Canadian education system, positioning himself as a provocative voice during the 1940s and 1950s.
Baillargeon’s literary contributions include novels, poetry, and essays that often reflected his concerns for social reform, epitomized by his semi-autobiographical character Claude Perrin. His work is recognized for its eloquent language and critical examination of societal issues, and he is considered a precursor to the "La Revolution Tranquille," a Quebecois movement advocating for secular governance and education. His accolades include the Silver Medal of the Academie Française and election as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Baillargeon passed away on August 15, 1967, during heart surgery, leaving behind a legacy of literary and social critique.
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Pierre Baillargeon
Writer
- Born: September 10, 1916
- Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Died: August 15, 1967
- Place of death: Rochester, Minnesota
Biography
Pierre Baillargeon was born on September 10, 1916, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of a political organizer, Oliva Baillargeon, and Alphonsine (Mercier) Baillargeon. Baillargeon attended the Collège Jean-de-Brebeuf, Montreal and studied medicine at Université de Poitiers in France, where he met Jacqueline Mabit, who was also a writer. They married in 1939. The couple relocated to Canada in 1940 and had four children: Lise, Jeanne, Mireille, and Claude. Baillargeon was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1962, and was also a member of the PEN Press Club. He died while undergoing heart surgery in Rochester, Minnesota on August 15, 1967.
Baillargeon divided his personal and professional life between Canada and France. He acted as the founder and director of the Amerique Française, a literary publication, from 1941 to 1944. He also worked as a journalist for the French publication La Patrie from 1948 to 1960 and for Le Petit Journal from 1950 to 1951. Baillargeon served as a literary consultant for Reader’s Digest in Paris from 1956 to 1959, as an editor for Bell Canada from 1960 to 1962, and as president of the Societé des Ecrivains Canadiens. During World War II, he worked as a translator for the Canadian Air Force. In 1958, he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Academie Française, and a Canada Council Senior Arts Fellowship from 1959-1960. He published a series of novels, a collection of poetry, and a wide array of incisive essays during his relatively brief lifetime.
Well known for his criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Canadian education system, Baillargeon was viewed as something of a troublemaker in the time of his greatest productivity, in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Later, he was seen as a forerunner of “La Revolution Tranquille” (the quiet revolution), a Quebecois socio-political movement that advocated separate provincial government and secular French education free from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.
Baillargeon’s concerns for social change were expressed in his fiction as well as in his essays. He created a semi-autobiographical character, Claude Perrin, who appeared in four of his novels. Perrin is a character whose musings and circumstances often emphasize an urgent need for change, and whose failures may be seen as a microcosm of the failures of Quebec. Baillargeon’s work as an author of poetry, fiction and essays is notable for its polished use of language, its rigorous thought and its scrutiny of social conditions.