Pauline Fréchette (after marriage, Fréchette-Handfield;

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

, Soeur Marie-Pauline; 16 October 1889 – 5 January 1943) was a Canadian poet, dramatist, journalist, and lecturer. After marriage and divorce in Canada, she removed to France and became a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

Early life and education

Marie-Emma-Pauline-Adine ("Pauline") Frechette was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada on 16 October 1889. She was the youngest daughter of Louis-Honoré Fréchette and Marie-Emma (Beaudry) Fréchette (died 1922). Her siblings from this marriage included, Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Joseph Fréchette, Marie-Jeanne-Emma Fréchette, Marie-Desiree-Louise-Alexandrine Fréchette, and Charles-Auguste-Jean-Louis Fréchette. She received her education at Villa Maria Convent, C.N.D., whence she graduated in 1908.

Career

In addition to the volume of verse, ''Tu m'as donné le plus doux rêve'', with a preface by Hon. Gonzalve Desaulniers, she was the author of a work in prose entitled ''L’Art d'être une bonne Mère'', which was highly praised in medical circles and was honored by a long study from Leon Berthaut, of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Many of Fréchette's poems were set to music in Montreal and in Paris. She was fond of travel and gave the press racy descriptions of her journeys. She was frequently called upon to give public readings of her poems. She resided at Ville de Léry, Chateauguay County, Quebec, near Montreal. Fréchette published a collection of her father's works under the title of ''Centmorceaux choisis de Louis Fréchette'', with a preface by Senator L. O. David. The Duke of Bauffremont, who specialized in French-Canadian literature, said of Fréchette, "She does not lack of inspiration and originality. These verses are from a poet, a real poet. Poetry does not consist in putting rhymes in line and in using rare words: poetry is the way of feeling and thinking and in the way of seeing things--qualities that Mrs. Fréchette possesses in a supreme degree." Henri d'Arles wrote an extensive criticism of her volume of verses. In ''Nos Poetes'', of Paris, he stated:— "One finds in Mrs. Fréchette's works the sincerity of inspiration and the sensibility which are so fascinating in Louis Fréchette's poetry. It is like a charming inheritance which the author of 'Tu m'as donné le plus doux rêve' has put in value."

Personal life

On 22 September 1910, in Montreal, she married Dr. Joseph Azarie Handfield (1873–1935), a physician of Montreal. In 1926, he petitioned for a

dissolution of marriage Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. Pauline Fréchette, now Soeur (Sister) Marie-Pauline, died at the l'Institut de Jésus Crucifié, in Launay, France, 5 January 1943.

Selected works

* ''L'art d'être une bonne mère: notions d'hygiène, de physiologie et de psychologie pour les jeunes mères'', 1922 * ''L’Art d'être une bonne Mère'', 1923 * ''Centmorceaux choisis de Louis Fréchette'', 1924 * ''Tu m'as donné le plus doux rêve'', 1924

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frechette, Pauline 1889 births 1943 deaths Poets from Montreal 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian journalists 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women poets Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 20th-century Canadian women journalists