Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other members of the family see Aubert de Gaspé
Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé (30 October 1786 – 29 January 1871) was a French Canadian writer, politician and seigneur.
The Aubert de Gaspé family was distinguished, ennobled by Louis XIV in 1693. Philippe-Joseph's grandfather fought under Montcalm at Carillon (Ticonderoga). Philippe-Joseph studied at Quebec Seminary and after a brief practice of the law, was appointed sheriff.
Forced by misfortune to retire to his ancestral home at Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence, Gaspe there spent thirty years in study. At the ripe age of seventy-five, he completed a novel entitled, Les Anciens Canadiens (Quebec, 1861). Almost entirely based on fact, the story illustrates Canadian national tradition, character and manners. The author interwove events of his own chequered life with the tragic tale of the struggles and fall of New France, and of the change of regime, the eyewitnesses of which he had personally known.
In 1866, Gaspe published his Mémoires, which continue and amplify the precious historical notes contained in his other works. Less brilliant and attractive than his novel, the Mémoires are an excellent specimen of anecdotal history. The author's standing and experience, the latter embracing directly or indirectly the space of a century dating from the Conquest, constitute him an authentic chronicler of an obscure yet eventful period of history.
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia, so may be out of date, or reflect the point of view of the Catholic Church as of 1913. It should be edited to reflect broader and more recent perspectives.
