Philippe Aubert de Gaspé

The son of the seigneur of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Aubert de Gaspé was compelled by debt to abandon his legal career in 1822. During a long period of forced retirement he acquired a rich fund of anecdote and ppopular tradition which was to become the basis for his masterpiece “Les Anciens Canadiens”. This historical novel, published in 1863 and his “Mémoires” (1866) remain important sources for the historian and student of folklore, as well as landmarks of Canadian Literature.

Fils du seigneur de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Aubert de Gaspé dut abandonner sa carrière juridique en 1822, à la suite de sérieux problèmes financiers. Au cours de cette retraite forcée, il accumula un vaste répertoire d’anecdotes et de traditions populaires qui inspirèrent son chef-d’oeuvre, «Les Anciens Canadiens» (1863). Ce roman historique et ses «Mémoires» (1866) sont des oeuvres maîtresses de la littérature canadienne constituant une importante ressource documentaire pour l’historien et le folkloriste.