Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé
Who was Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé?
French Canadian writer and seigneur
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé was born on October 30, 1786, in Quebec City, during the last years of New France's change under British rule. His family, the Aubert de Gaspé family, was one of the oldest in French Canada, having held the land of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli for generations. This aristocratic background deeply influenced his view of the world and later colored his writing with a strong longing for the customs, legends, and social structures of French Canadian life before the British conquest.
Aubert de Gaspé trained as a lawyer and was the sheriff of Quebec City from 1816 to 1822. His time in office ended poorly when he couldn't account for public funds, leading to his dismissal and later imprisonment for debt from 1838 to 1841 in Quebec City jail. This personal and financial downfall significantly interrupted his public life, though he continued to read and think about the world of his youth.
Aubert de Gaspé didn't publish his famous novel Les Anciens Canadiens until he was seventy-six, in 1863. The book, set during the British Conquest of New France, drew heavily from his memories of seigneurial life and the folk culture of rural Quebec. It was immediately seen as a significant addition to French Canadian literature, providing a detailed look at a society undergoing permanent change. An English version, The Canadians of Old, came out in 1864, reaching readers beyond the French-speaking community.
He married Susanne Allison, and they had a large family. His son, Philippe-Ignace-François Aubert de Gaspé, had published what is often considered the first French Canadian novel, L'Influence d'un livre, in 1837. This made for a notable literary family spanning two generations. The elder Aubert de Gaspé also published a collection of memoirs and sketches, Mémoires, in 1866, capturing the customs and stories of Quebec society from his many years of observation.
Aubert de Gaspé died on January 29, 1871, in Quebec City, at the age of eighty-four. He is recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada for his contribution to French Canadian cultural identity and literature. His work is still seen as a key text in the study of Quebec literature and the history of French Canada.
Before Fame
Aubert de Gaspé grew up in the world of the French Canadian seigneurial class, spending his early years on the family estate in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli and in Quebec City. He got a classical education and matured in a society still figuring out its identity after the British Conquest of 1759 and the changes brought by the Constitutional Act of 1791. These early experiences with the old families of French Canada gave him direct access to the stories, legends, and traditions that would become the material for his writing.
His legal career seemed to offer a stable path in colonial Quebec's professional class, but his firing as sheriff and later imprisonment ended any chance of a typical public life. For many years, he lived quietly, managing the family seigneury and thinking about a disappearing way of life. It was this long time away from public affairs, along with his great memory and literary goals in old age, that made his later success as a novelist so surprising to his peers.
Key Achievements
- Authored Les Anciens Canadiens (1863), considered the first classic of French Canadian fiction.
- Published Mémoires (1866), a valuable chronicle of seigneurial and colonial life in Quebec.
- Designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada.
- Served as Sheriff of Quebec City from 1816 to 1822, holding one of the colony's prominent legal administrative posts.
- Contributed to the preservation of French Canadian oral traditions, folk legends, and seigneurial customs through his literary work.
Did You Know?
- 01.Aubert de Gaspé was 76 years old when his novel Les Anciens Canadiens was first published in 1863, making him one of the oldest debut novelists in Canadian literary history.
- 02.He was imprisoned for debt from 1838 to 1841 in Quebec City's jail, a consequence of financial irregularities during his time as sheriff that had occurred nearly two decades earlier.
- 03.His son Philippe-Ignace-François Aubert de Gaspé published L'Influence d'un livre in 1837, often cited as the very first French Canadian novel, predating his father's more celebrated work by over two decades.
- 04.Les Anciens Canadiens includes several chapters based on traditional French Canadian folk tales and legends, reflecting Aubert de Gaspé's effort to preserve oral culture in written form.
- 05.The family seigneury of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, which the Aubert de Gaspé family held for generations, is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River and is still known today as a centre of Quebec artisan craft.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Person of National Historic Significance | — | — |