Félix-Antoine Savard, (August 31, 1896 – August 24, 1982) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

priest, academic, poet, novelist and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

. Born in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, he grew up in

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

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, ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1918 and was ordained a priest in 1922. He occupied several ecclesiastical positions in

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

and Saguenay before founding the parish of Clermont in Charlevoix. While in Clermont, Savard explored the Charlevoix countryside and became well acquainted with the local log drivers. The mountains of Charlevoix were the setting for his 1937 novel '' Menaud, maître draveur'' which made him famous and earned him a medal from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. It remains to this day one of the best-known works of Quebec literature. Like Maria Chapdeleine, the title character Menaud has become a key figure in Quebec's national identity. He joined the Faculty of Arts 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 ...

in 1945 and from 1950 to 1957 was its dean.

Works

* ''Menaud maître-draveur'', novel, Québec, Librairie Garneau, 1937 (translation: ''Boss of the river'', translated by Alan Sullivan, Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1947). * ''L'abatis'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, , 1943. * ''La Minuit'', novel, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1948. * ''Martin et le pauvre'', legend, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1959. * ''Le Barachois'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1959. * ''La Folle'', play, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1960. * ''La Dalle-des-morts'', play, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1965. * ''La Symphonie du Misereror'', Ottawa, Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa, 1968. * ''Le Bouscueuil'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1972. * ''La roche Ursule'', poems, Québec, 1972. Ce poème est extrait du ''Bouscueil''. * ''Journal et souvenirs'', poems and souvenirs, Montréal, Éditions Fides, 1973. * ''Aux marges du silence'', poems, Québec, Librairie Garneau, 1975.

Honours

* In 1945, he was awarded the

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 ...

. * 1959 Governor General's Awards for ''Malgré tout, la joie''. * In 1968, he 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 1969, he was awarded the

Prix Athanase-David The Prix Athanase-David is a literary award presented annually by the government of Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares b ...

. * In 2005, his book ''Menaud, maître-draveur'' (Boss of the River) (1937) was selected as one of Canada's 100 Most Important Books by the ''Literary Review of Canada''.

References

External links

* Archives of Félix-Antoine Savar
(Fonds Félix-Antoine Savard, R11830)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savard, Felix-Antoine 1896 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian university and college faculty deans Canadian poets in French Officers of the Order of Canada Writers from Quebec City Writers from Saguenay, Quebec Prix Athanase-David winners Governor General's Award–winning poets Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian novelists in French Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Academic staff of Université Laval 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers Poets from Quebec Novelists from Quebec