Search for "New France"

(Marie Marguerite Aline) France Dion. Soprano, teacher, born Québec City 16 May 1929; died Boucherville 2 Jul 2011.

Gustave Lanctot, OC, archivist, historian (born 5 July 1883 in Saint-Constant, QC; died 2 February 1975 in Montreal, QC). Gustave Lanctot was an eminent historian who specialized in the history of New France. He served as Dominion Archivist from 1937 to 1948.

The practice of slavery was introduced by colonists in New France in the early 1600s. The practice was continued after the British took control of New France in 1760 (see British North America.) For about two hundred years, thousands of Indigenous and Black African people were bought, sold, traded and inherited like property in early Canada. Slavery was abolished (made illegal) throughout British North America in 1834.

(This article is a plain-language summary of slavery in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry on Black Enslavement in Canada.)

Marcel Trudel, historian (born at St-Narcisse, Qué 29 May 1917; died at Longueuil, Qué 11 Jan 2011), one of the masters of contemporary Québec historiography. He shaped generations of historians, first at Laval (1947-65), briefly at Carleton University and then at Ottawa University (1966-82).

(Marie Berthe) Rolande Dion. Soprano, teacher, b Quebec City 5 Apr 1915, d there 19 Nov 1980. She studied singing in her native city 1931-5 with Émile Larochelle and 1935-9 with Louis Gravel.

Francis Dhomont. Composer, teacher, b Paris 2 Nov 1926. He studied in Paris with Ginette Waldmeier, Charles Koechlin and Nadia Boulanger. From 1944 to 1963, he composed for instruments and for voice, attempting to reconcile modality and atonality.

Guy Frégault, historian (b at Montréal 16 June 1918; d at Québec C 13 Dec 1977). Frégault pursued classical studies at Saint-Laurent and Jean-de-Brébeuf colleges in Montréal. He then enrolled in Université de Montréal and eventually completed his PhD in history at Loyola University, Chicago in 1949.

Sarah Fischer, soprano, teacher (b at Paris, France 23 Feb 1896; Canadian citizen 1912; d at Montréal 3 May 1975).

William John Eccles, historian (b at Thirsk, Yorkshire, Eng 17 July 1917; d at Toronto 2 Oct 1998).

Chester William New, university teacher, historian, biographer (b at Montréal 9 Oct 1882; d at Hamilton, Ont 31 Aug 1960). Raised and educated in Hamilton, New was a graduate of the University of Toronto and McMaster University.

Josèphe Colle. Soprano, teacher, b Nancy, France, 24 Aug 1929, naturalized Canadian 1958; BA, psychology (Montreal) 1955; premier prix, analysis and musical aesthetics (Cons national, Paris) 1956.

Antoine Dessane, organist, pianist, cellist, teacher, composer (b at Forcalquier, near Aix-en-Provence, France 10 Dec 1826; d at Québec City 8 June 1873). Founder of the choral Société musicale.

Sir Samuel Hughes, teacher, journalist, soldier, politician (born at Darlington, Canada W 8 Jan 1853; died at Lindsay, Ont 24 Aug 1921). A Conservative and an enthusiastic supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy, Sam Hughes was elected to Parliament for Victoria North in 1892.

Antoine Reboulot. Organist, pianist, teacher, composer, (Decize, Nièvre, France, Dec. 17, 1914 - Montreal, July 11, 2002, naturalized Canadian 1978); first prize in organ (Cons national de Paris) 1936, first prize in composition (ibid) 1947.

Alcibiade Béique. Organist, teacher, b St-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville, near Montreal, 20 Oct 1856, d Montreal 20 Jun 1896. After organ lessons with Romain-Octave Pelletier, he studied 1877-8 at the Liège Cons and travelled in Italy, France, and England.

Myrtle Guerrero (b Rose, later m Knox-Leet). Educator, b North Battleford, Sask, 5 Aug 1906, d Oakville, Ont, 11 Aug 1995; ATCM 1939. After private studies 1917-28 in Lethbridge, Alta, she continued her training 1928-32 at the TCM, where her piano teachers were Peter C. Kennedy and Alberto Guerrero.

Frédéric Back, OC, CQ, animator, illustrator, muralist, teacher, activist (born 8 April 1924 in Sarrebrück, France; died 24 December 2013 in Montréal, QC). Frédéric Back was one of Canada’s most celebrated animators and a pioneering environmental activist.

Mary Cyr. Gambist, teacher, musicologist, b Fargo, N Dak, 20 Aug 1946, naturalized Canadian 1991; BA music (California, Berkeley) 1968, MA musicology (California, Berkeley) 1970, PH D (California, Berkeley) 1975.

​Claude Sauvage, author and professor (born in 1938 in Mascara, Algeria) immigrated to Québec in 1967.

William (Willy or Willi) Amtmann. Historian, violinist, b Vienna 10 Aug 1910, d Ottawa 22 Jul 1996; B MUS (Toronto) 1950, M MUS (ESM, Rochester) 1952, D LITT musicology (Strasbourg) 1956. He received a diploma after studying 1924-30 at the Vienna Academy of Music and arrived in Canada in 1940.