Jacques Ferron (January 20, 1921 – April 22, 1985) was a Canadian physician and author. Jacques Ferron was born in

Louiseville Louiseville is a town in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is located near the mouth of the 'Rivière-du-Loup', on the north shore of Lac Saint-Pierre. Louiseville is twinned with Soissons in France and Cerfontaine in ...

, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

but was expelled in 1936. He continued his education at

Collège Saint-Laurent In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

and then was readmitted at Jean-de-Brébeuf, only to be expelled again. In September 1941, he was accepted at

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Mont ...

where he studied medicine and on July 22, 1943 he married a fellow student, Madeleine Therrien, whom he divorced in 1949. November 1943, he enrolled in the Canadian army as a medic and received the acceptance in June 1945. He trained in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and after that was sent to Quebec and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

as a medic. When relieved of duty in 1946, he settled in Rivière-Madeleine, Quebec. His time in Gaspésie was the inspiration for many of his stories written later. He may have had to leave Rivière-Madeleine because he was denounced from the pulpit as a communist by the local parish priest. In 1947, his father died. In 1948, he returned to Montréal. In 1949, he moved to

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly a ...

, Quebec and his first book, ''L'ogre'', was published. He lived among working-class people that lived in Longueuil-annexe in those years, often offering his services for free-refusing to be paid, or omitting to ask. Not in the name of charity, but rather of solidarity- his giving was politically motivated, and he understood that his training as a doctor-his privilege- was paid for by the misery that the francophone working class was experiencing at that time. In 1951, he began a 30-year collaboration with ''L'Information médicale et paramédicale''. On June 28, 1952, he married Madeleine Lavallée. In 1954 he became a member of the board of the Canadian Peace Congress. In 1959 he helped in the foundation of the magazine ''Situations''. In 1960, with the help of Raoul Roy, he created l'Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec. In 1962, he received the Governor General's Award for French fiction for his book ''Contes du pays incertain''. Ferron was a candidate for the

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the a ...

in the 1958 federal election in the

district. He finished third with 6.8% of the vote. In 1963 he founded the Parti Rhinocéros, which he described as "an intellectual guerrilla party". He also began to write for the magazine '' Parti pris''. He also ran for the

RIN Rin may refer to: *, yen, former Japanese currency *Rin (given name) *Rin (detergent), a brand of detergent sold by Unilever *Rin, a Japanese standing bell * ''Mnemosyne'' (anime) or ''RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne'', an anime *''Rin!'' (凛!), a Jap ...

in the district of

Taillon Taillon is a provincial electoral district in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises part of the borough of Le Vieux-Longueuil of the city of Longueuil. It was create ...

in the 1966 provincial election and outperformed other candidates of the same party, finishing third with a score of 18.3%.Les résultats électoraux depuis 1867, Taillon à Trois-Rivières
/ref> In 1969, he became a member of the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignist and social democracy, social democratic provincial list of political parties in Quebec, political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates Quebec sovereignty movement ...

. In 1977, the Quebec government awarded him the

Prix Athanase-David The Prix Athanase-David is a literary award presented annually by the government of Quebec as part of the Prix du Québec to a Quebec writer, to honour the body of his or her work. The prize, named in honour of longtime MNA Athanase David Lo ...

. He was named an honorary member of the Union des écrivains québécois in 1981. He died of a heart attack 1985 at his home in St-Lambert, Quebec, aged 64. His life was dramatized by playwright Michèle Magny in her 2004 play ''Un carré de ciel''."Magny, Michèle"
''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', July 17, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferron, Jacques Canadian male novelists Writers from Quebec Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers 1921 births 1985 deaths People from Louiseville Prix Athanase-David winners 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian novelists in French Canadian military doctors Canadian medical writers Candidates in Quebec provincial elections Canadian political party founders Rhinoceros Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1972 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1974 Canadian federal election Rhinoceros Party of Canada candidates in the 1979 Canadian federal election Rhinoceros Party of Canada candidates in the 1980 Canadian federal election Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Université Laval alumni Physicians from Quebec 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidates for the Canadian House of Commons