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Raoul Blanchard (4 September 1877 – 24 March 1965) was a French geographer. He taught at the
University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...
from 1906 and devoted most of his research to Alpine and
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 ...
geography.


Early life

The son of an inspector of the Department of Water of
Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and
Louis Gallouédec Louis Gallouédec (17 February 1864 – 23 January 1937) was a French geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
. He was admitted to the Ecole Normale Superieure in 1897, he became excited by geography, which was taught by Paul Vidal de La Blache. Blanchard received his ''
agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...
'' in 1900 and became a professor at the school of
Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...
, France. He prepared a thesis on the regional geography of Flanders, which he defended in 1906 under the title ''Flanders, Geographic Study of the Flemish Plain in France, Belgium, Holland''.


Grenoble

A few months after his successful defence, he was appointed to the Faculty of Arts of the
University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...
. In 1907, he founded a research centre on the
French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...
of which very little was then known. The Alpine Geography Institute was endowed in 1913, and its journal began in 1920 and became the ''Revue de géographie alpine'' (Alpine Geography Review). Blanchard collaborated with the institute and its journal for 50 years, and both still exist today. He was appointed professor in 1913 and became known as the head of geography at the University of Grenoble. One of his students there was geographer Thérèse Sclafert. His 12 volumes on the French Alps are considered his chief work. He taught at the University of Grenoble until his retirement, in 1948.


North America

Blanchard was appointed an instructor at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, in 1917 and was named a full professor from 1928 to 1936, which gave him the opportunity to spend a few months a year in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. In 1929, he grew interested in the geography of French-speaking
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Given the Francophone roots in the Canadian province 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 borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
and the facilities available there, Blanchard enjoyed researching the vast area, which had not been the subject of geographical study. Until 1960, he visited Quebec 15 times. He began to produce documents about Quebec with a strictly-geographical method. During his five autumn trips (1929 to 1933), he travelled to the
Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...
twice on foot and by car. He also went to the north shore of the
st. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...
and the Natashquan River. As a man accustomed to Europe, he was very interested in the novelty of Quebec culture. In 1930, he published ''Gaspé Peninsula'' in his journal, the first in a long series of articles about Canada, especially Quebec. Blanchard then became a part-time lecturer in Montreal. In 1947, he agreed to found an Institute of Geography of the University of Montreal, which in 1962 became the Department of Geography. The institute offered courses that took place in Gaspé,
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
, and
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
according to the method that had been used in his 1929 study. Blanchard was appointed the first director of the institute until illness struck, when one of his students, Pierre Dagenais, took over. At the 1939 founding of the Geographical Society of Montreal, Blanchard was appointed honorary president, and in 1952, he became president of the Association of Geographers. In 1958, he was elected to the
Académie des sciences morales et politiques 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 ...
(Academy of Moral and Political Sciences). In 1964, a year before his death, his last book was published at Porte de Paris, in Quebec City. The great Quebec economic historian Albert Faucher praised Blanchard's work in Quebec by writing in 1962:
He never claimed to be an economist historian and yet, in his investigations, he never neglected the temporal dimension of the spatial phenomena he studied. His works abound in historical insights. The historian will be able to criticize it, he will never finish consulting it or quoting it. Perhaps we will say of him what Talleyrand said of Jeremy Bentham: no matter how much they plunder him, he remains rich.


Death and legacy

Blanchard died on 24 March 1965 in Paris. He is considered the father of modern geography in Quebec. To thank him for his many contributions, the Commission de Toponymie du Québec gave his name to a mountain near Quebec City reaching 1,181 m above sea level, the highest peak in the
Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains, also known as the Laurentians or Laurentides, are a mountain range in Canada. The range is long and ranges in height from with peaks over . The Laurentian Mountains extend across Labrador and Quebec within the Laurent ...
. In addition, the geography department of the University of Montreal honoured him by naming its largest classroom after him. As of 2020, he is the only geographer to have received the CNRS gold medal (1960). In 1966, the Association des Amis de l'Université de Grenoble published ''Raoul Blanchard (1877-1965): in memoriam'', which contains a biography. In the centre of
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
is rue Raoul-Blanchard. Collège Raoul-Blanchard is in
Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...
. A spatial analysis laboratory named after him is in
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionKoksijde Koksijde (; ; ) is a town and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in Belgium. It is located on the North Sea coast in the southwest of the Flanders, Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises apart from Koksijde, the v ...
.


Selected bibliography

He wrote about 290 works covering a wide range of subjects such as
Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, the
French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...
, the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
(especially
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, ...
). * ''La Flandre. Étude de géographie de la plaine flamande, en France, Belgique et Hollande'', Armand Colin, Paris, 1906 * « L’Habitation en Queyras », ''La Géographie'', 1909 * « Sur quelques géants américains », ''Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris'', Paris, 1909. * ''Grenoble, étude de géographie urbaine'', Armand Colin, Paris, 1911 * ''Rapport général de l'exposition internationale de la houille blanche'', Grands établissements de l'imprimerie générale, Grenoble, 1925 * ''Les Alpes françaises'', Armand Colin, Paris, 1925 * « Asie occidentale », ''Géographie universelle'', Paris, 1929 * « La presqu'île de Gaspé », ''Revue de Géographie Alpine'', Grenoble, 1930 * « Les Problèmes du Canada français », Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Paris, 1932 * « L'Amérique du Nord : États-Unis, Canada et Alaska », Fayard, Paris, 1933 * « Géographie de l'industrie », 1934 * ''L'Est du Canada français, Province de Québec'', 2 vol., Montréal, 1935 * ''A geography of Europe, together with Raymond E. Christ, Henry Holt, New York, 1935 * ''Grenoble, étude de géographie urbaine'', 3rd edition, Librairie Didier & Richard, Grenoble, 1935. * « Géographie de Québec », ''Bulletin de la Société de Statistique'', Grenoble, 1935. * ''Les Alpes occidentales'', 1937; 1958 * ''Géographie générale'', 1938 * ''Le Centre du Canada français'', 1947 * ''Montréal: esquisse de géographie urbaine'', 1947. * ''Le Québec par l'image'', 1949 * ''La Mauricie'', 1950 * ''Les Alpes et leur destin'', Fayard, Paris, 1953 * ''L'Ouest du Canada français'', 5 vol., Montréal, 1953-1954. * ''Réflexions sur les hautes vallées alpestres'', Grenoble, 1958 * ''Le Canada français'', 1960-1964 * ''Le Canada français'', 3rd edition, Presses universitaires de France, Paris, 1970


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Raoul Scientists from Orléans 1877 births 1965 deaths École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) French geographers French mountain climbers Academic staff of Grenoble Alpes University Harvard University faculty Sportspeople from Isère