Gratien Gélinas
Gratien Gélinas (1909-1999) was a pivotal figure in French Canadian theater, often regarded as its founding father. Born in Saint-Tite, Québec, and later moving to Montreal, Gélinas pursued an early career in accounting before his creative inclinations led him to the performing arts. He gained recognition through various roles in local theaters and radio, notably creating the character Fridolin in the 1930s, who embodied the struggles and hopes of Québec society. His first full-length play, *Tit-Coq* (1948), further established his status as a cultural icon, blending humor with social criticism that encouraged audiences to reflect on traditional values.
In addition to his artistic contributions, Gélinas was active in theater organizations, including serving as president of the Canadian Theatre Centre and chairperson of the Canadian Film Development Corporation. His work earned him numerous accolades, including the Medal of the Order of Canada and a fellowship from the Royal Society of Canada. Gélinas’s plays, while reflective of their time, continue to resonate in the context of Quebec’s cultural identity, showcasing the enduring impact of his artistic legacy.
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Subject Terms
Gratien Gélinas
Playwright
- Born: December 8, 1909
- Birthplace: Sainte-Tite, Québec, Canada
- Died: March 15, 1999
- Place of death: Deux-Montagnes, Québec, Canada
Biography
Gratien Gélinas was born on December 8, 1909, in Saint-Tite, a small town in the province of Québec, Canada. He was the son of Mathias and Geneve (Davidson) Gelinas. While he was still a child, his family relocated to the city of Montreal. He graduated from the College de Montreal in 1929 and planned to study law. This ambition, however, was thwarted by the onset of the Great Depression, and economic necessity compelled him to take a position as a staff member in the accounting department of La Sauvegarde Insurance Company, where he worked from 1929 to 1937. In 1935, he married Simone Lalonde. She passed away in 1967; he then married Huguette Oligny, an actress, in 1973. He had six children.
Gratien Gélinas has been called the founding father of the French Canadian theater, and he was praised for his recognition of the stage’s power to affect social and political change. While employed in the prosaic position of staff accountant, his creative energies flourished and found their outlet in the local theaters. His performances in small roles gained him critical attention, and in 1932 he secured the principal role in a weekday radio serial, Le Cure de village, and also appeared in the stage revue Televise-moi-ca in 1932. In 1937, Gélinas felt confident enough in his creative work to quit his job with the accounting firm. Beginning in this year, he wrote and performed a weekly radio comedy program to which he contributed until 1941. For the program he invented a character named Fridolin, a poverty-stricken but always-hopeful youth frequently subjected to the harsh realities of life. Fridolin seemed to personify Québec and began to serve in many ways as the previously muted voice of Québec’s society. The character became enormously popular, and Gélinas reprised the role in Fridolinades, the stage revue about his radio character, from 1938 to 1946. The stage version was so popular that Gélinas abandoned the radio program in 1941.
Gélinas’s next major creative endeavor was his first full-length play, Tit-Coq (1948). Like the character of Fridolin, Tit-Coq became an overnight folk hero. Gélinas avoided the tendency to preach, and his writing and acting talents allowed his audience to question antiquated traditions and irrational customs. Gélinas’s work created social criticism through the small-scale world of individuals and families and their immediate relationships. He was a member of the Canadian Theatre Centre and served as its president, and he was also a member of the Canadian Film Development Corporation; he served as its chairperson from 1969 to 1978. He received a fellowship from the Royal Society of Canada in 1959, the Medal of the Order of Canada in1967, and he was also the recipient of several honorary degrees and cultural prizes. In 1958, he founded La Comedie-Canadienne and continued to actively promote that organization from 1958 to 1972. Although his plays are now, in many ways, period pieces, his place as a seminal figure in contemporary Canadian theater is unquestionable.