Timeline
Title
Country/Nationality
Louis Hemon
Louis Hémon, was a French writer best known for his novel Maria Chapdelaine.
He was born in Brest, France. In Paris, where he resided with his family, he was enrolled in the Montaigne and Louis-le-Grand secondary schools. A bilingual secretary in several maritime agencies, he collaborated, starting from 1904, in a Parisian sports journal. After his studies of law and oriental languages in the Sorbonne, he moved to London.
In 1911, he moved to Canada, settling initially in Montreal. Hémon wrote Maria Chapdelaine during his time working at a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region.
Hémon died when he was struck by a train at Chapleau, Ontario. He never saw the widespread publication of his landmark novel.
Since his death, Maria Chapdelaine has been translated into more than 20 languages in 23 countries,[1] while other novels were published posthumously. The work was also celebrated through a series of paintings by renowned Canadian artist, Rajka Kupesic.
Hémon had one daughter, Lydia-Kathleen, from a relationship in England with Lydia O'Kelly.
He is the subject of two biographical studies, L'aventure Louis Hémon (1974) by Alfred Ayotte and Victor Tremblay, and Louis Hémon, le fou du lac by Mathieu-Robert Sauvé.
Books by Louis Hemon
Maria Chapdelaine
Maria Chapdelaine is a romance novel written in 1913 by the French writer Louis Hémon, who was then residing in Quebec. Aimed at French and Quebec adolescents, the book had been included in school curricula, translated, and has been extensively analy...
Maria Chapdelaine
Maria Chapdelaine raconte la vie difficile d'une famille paysanne au Québec, au début des années 1900.