Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae

Born in this house, McCrae qualified as a physician in Toronto and subsequently practised and taught medicine in the United States and Montréal. In 1914 he joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was posted overseas where he served until his death. Earlier, he had written the occasional verse and his experience at the front further inspired his poetic efforts. His “In Flanders Fields,” published anonymously in 1915, became one of the most celebrated poems of the First World War and made the poppy a lasting symbol of the five million allied soldiers who died in that conflict.

McCrae est né dans cette maison. Il fit ses études de médecine à Toronto, puis il pratiqua et enseigna aux États-Unis et à Montréal. En 1914, il entra dans le corps médical de l’armée canadienne et il fut envoyé en Europe, où il servit jusqu’à sa mort. Pendant son adolescence, il avait composé quelques poésies et l’expérience du front enrichit son inspiration. Son poème «In Flanders Fields», qui fut publié en 1915 sans identification d’auteur, devint l’une des créations les plus célèbres de la Première Guerre mondiale. Il fit du coquelicot le symbole vivant des cinq millions de soldats que perdirent les forces alliées pendant le conflit.