Fernand Ouellet (6 November 1926 in Lac-Bouchette, Quebec – 28 June 2021 in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

Biography

He was educated at

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 ...

and gained a

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 1965. Ouellet taught at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, and the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1961–1985, prior to joining the History Department at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in 1986. Throughout his career, he used techniques imported from

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

to challenge the foundations of

Quebec nationalism Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...

. His contributions to the historiographical debates over the British Conquest and the 1837 Rebellion have been especially controversial. In particular, he drew attention to the role played by women in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

society. He accused fellow historians of trying to "normalize" Quebec's past, so as to provide a stronger justification of sovereignty. In response, other French-speaking historians have been hostile to his suggestion that French-Canadians are the agents of their own difficulties. These historians, instead of dwelling on economic shortcomings, have stressed the deep roots of modernity, a position that Ouellet strongly rejected. In a nutshell, Ouellet insisted that Quebec's history offers "more support for the thesis of backwardness than for that of modernization." A devout follower and admirer of

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

and his political ideology ( Trudeauism), Ouellet was strongly against

and the

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

. Trudeau and Ouellet intellectually influenced each other in their respective texts, though they never formed a personal and emotional friendship. He died on 28 June 2021 in Toronto, aged 94. Married to Thérèse Roy, he had three children and four grandchildren.

Awards

Ouellet received numerous prizes, awards, and honours, including the J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal of 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 ...

in 1969, the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for non-fiction in 1977, the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize of the

Canadian Historical Association The Canadian Historical Association (CHA; , SHC) is a Canadian organization founded in 1922 for the purposes of promoting historical research and scholarship. It is a bilingual, not-for-profit, charitable organization, the largest of its kind in ...

in 1977, and others. He was a Fellow of the

, serving as honorary secretary from 1977 to 1980. Ouellet served as president of the

in 1970, and 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 ...

in 1979. He was also the editor of ''Histoire Sociale'' (''Social History'') from 1971 to 1988. Ouellet is the author of several works on the history of nineteenth-century French Canada, including ''Histoire économique et sociale du Québec, 1760–1850,'' published 1966, ''Le Bas-Canada, 1791–1840,'' and ''Louis Joseph Papineau, un être divisé,'' published 1960.

References

1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Franco-Ontarian people Officers of the Order of Canada Academic staff of York University Université Laval alumni Academic staff of Université Laval Presidents of the Canadian Historical Association People from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean {{Canada-historian-stub

Biography

Awards

Further reading

References