Françoise Gaudet-Smet (October 26, 1902 – September 4, 1986) was a Canadian writer living 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, ...

. The daughter of Alexandre Gaudet and Flore Bourgeois, she was born Françoise Gaudet in Sainte-Eulalie. She attended

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

there,

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

at the convent of the Sisters of the Assumption and continued her education at the École normale de Nicolet. After completing her education, she worked in her father's business. She began work as a journalist around 1926. In 1934, she was secretary for Olivar Asselin and editor of the women's pages of '' Le Canada''. She founded the journal ' in 1938 and served as its director until it ceased operation in 1949. She was responsible for the radio programs ''Notre pain quotidien'' and ''V'là le bon vent'' on

CKAC CKAC is a Canadian French, French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial travelers' information station, traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. ...

and ''De fils en aiguille'' and ''Le réveil rural'' on

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 ...

. She was also co-host for the television program ''Voix de femmes'' and then host of ''Sans détour'' on CHLT – Sherbrooke. She was also a contributor to the newspapers '' La Presse'', ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

'', ''

Montréal-Matin ''Montréal-Matin'' ("Montreal-Morning") was a Quebec daily newspaper based in Montreal. It was published from 1930 to 1978. It was politically associated to the Conservative Party of Quebec (historical), Conservative Party of Quebec and, afterwa ...

'', '' Le Nouvelliste'' and ''

La Tribune () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...

''. In 1946, she founded the Centre Social Claire-Vallée and served as its director until the early 1960s. In 1974, she founded a cultural and educational centre, the Gaudet Bourg Centre, in Aston-Jonction. She also taught continuing education at the

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières The (, ''University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières'', UQTR), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public university within the network. As of April 2016, the uni ...

. From 1969 to 1971, she was president of the Cercle des femmes journalistes and, from 1981 to 1984, of the Fondation de l'Hôpital du Christ-Roi. She was married twice: to Paul Smet in 1934 (he died in 1950) and then to Samuel Brisson in 1965. In 1974, Gaudet Smet was named to 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 1985, she was named a Chevalier in the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

References

1902 births 1986 deaths Journalists from Quebec Canadian women journalists Members of the Order of Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Canadian women non-fiction writers {{Canada-journalist-stub