Antonine Maillet (10 May 1929 – 17 February 2025) was an

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

novelist, playwright and scholar.

Early life and education

Maillet was born on 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, New Brunswick"Antonine Maillet." ''Paroles d'Acadie : Anthologie de la littérature acadienne (1958-2009)'', edited by David Lonergan, Prise de paroles, pp. 41-68. as one of nine children in her family. Her mother died when she was 14 and her father died 10 years after. Following high school, Maillet received her BA from the Collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie in 1950, followed by an MA from the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

in 1959. She then received her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in literature in 1971 from the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

. Her thesis is entitled ''Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie''.Bottos, Katia. ''Antonine Maillet conteuse de l'Acadie ou l'encre de l'aède.'' L'Harmattan, 2011.

Career

Maillet taught literature and folklore at the collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie (1954–1960), the Université de Moncton (1965–1967), the Collège des Jésuites de Québec (1968–1969), the Université Laval (1971–1974), and the Université de Montréal between (1974–1975). She later worked for

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 ...

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

as a scriptwriter and host. In 1988, Maillet hosted the French-language Leaders' Debate for

TV between Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

Leader

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposit ...

, and

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

leader

Ed Broadbent John Edward Broadbent (March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024) was a Canadian social democracy, social-democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1975 to 1989, and a Member of Parliament (Ca ...

. From 1989 to 2000, she served as chancellor of the

. In 1976, she was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1981. Maillet was awarded the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

Lorne Pierce Medal The Lorne Pierce Medal is awarded every two years by the Royal Society of Canada to recognize achievement of special significance and conspicuous merit in imaginative or critical literature written in either English or French. The medal was first ...

in 1980. In 1985, she was made an Officier des Arts et des Lettres de France and in 2005, she was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick. She was a member of the

King's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on State (polity), state and constitutional affair ...

from 1 July 1992. This gave her the right to the honorific prefix "

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

" and the Post Nominal Letters "PC" for Life. In 1979 her work ''Pélagie-la-Charrette'' won the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

, making her the first non-European recipient. In 1994, the Collège Militaire Royal theatre group performed in a play by Maillet both at CMR and at

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

. Maillet was granted an Honorary Degree from RMC in 1995.

Personal life and death

In 2022, Maillet publicly came out as a lesbian, having been in a relationship with actress and theatre director Mercedes Palomino until her death in 2006. Maillet died in her sleep during the night of 17 February 2025, at her home in Montreal. She was 95.

Selected works

*''Pointe-aux-Coques'' – 1958 *''On a mangé la dune'' – 1962 *''Les Crasseux'' – 1968 *''

La Sagouine ''La Sagouine'' is a play written by New Brunswick author Antonine Maillet that tells the story of ''la Sagouine'', an Acadian cleaning lady from rural New Brunswick. The play is a collection of monologues, written in chiac, a type of Acadian ...

'' – 1971 *''Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie'' – 1971 *''Don l'Orignal'' – 1972 (winner of the ( 1972 Governor General's Award for Fiction) *''Par derrière chez mon père'' – 1972 *''Gapi et Sullivan'' – 1973 *''L'Acadie pour quasiment rien'' – 1973 *''Mariaagélas'' – 1973 *''Évangéline Deusse'' – 1975 *''Gapi'' – 1976 *''La veuve enragée'' – 1977 *''Les Cordes-de-bois'' – 1977 *''Le Bourgeois Gentleman'' – 1978 *''Pélagie-la-Charrette'' – 1979 (winner of the

) *''Cent ans dans les bois'' – 1981 *''Christophe Cartier de la Noisette dit Nounours, conte jeunesse illustré par Hans Troxler *''La Contrebandière'' – 1981 *''Les drolatiques, horrifiques et épouvantables aventures de Panurge, ami de Pantagruel'' – 1981 *''La Gribouille'' – 1982 *''Crache à pic'' – 1984 *''Garrochés en paradis'' – 1986 *''Le Huitième Jour'' – 1986 *''Margot la folle'' – 1987 *''L'oursiade'' – 1990 *''William S.'' – 1991 *''Les confessions de Jeanne de Valois'' – 1992 *''La nuit des rois'' – 1993 *''La Fontaine ou la Comédie des Animaux'' – 1995 *''Le Chemin Saint-Jacques'' – 1996 *''L'Île-aux-Puces'' – 1996 *''Chronique d'une sorcière de vent'' – 1999 *''Madame Perfecta'' – 2002 *''Le temps me dure'' – 2003 *''Pierre Bleu'' – 2006 *''Le Mystérieux Voyage de Rien'' – 2009 *''Fais confiance à la mer, elle te portera'' – 2010

Notes

References

External links

*
Antonine Maillet Profile at Government of Canada

La Sagouine, Acadian tourist attraction

''Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are Endless'' (Trailer)
National Film Board of Canada
''Antonine Maillet, Novelist'' - Cover story, Atlantic Insight Magazine, July 1980

Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maillet, Antonine 1929 births 2025 deaths Acadian writers Canadian women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Members of the Order of New Brunswick Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Officers of the National Order of Quebec Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People from Bouctouche Prix Goncourt winners Université Laval alumni Writers from Moncton Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian novelists in French Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French Lesbian novelists Lesbian dramatists and playwrights Canadian lesbian writers Canadian LGBTQ novelists Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Novelists from New Brunswick