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LE FRANC, MARIE, 1879-1965
LMS-0075

Marie Le Franc fonds. - 1922-1963. - 2 m of textual record and photographs.

Biographical Sketch

Source
Photo of Marie Le Franc, Montreal, 1922.

Novelist and poet Marie Le Franc was born and educated in Sarzeau, France, in 1879 and obtained her teaching diploma from the École normale de Vannes in 1897. After teaching in Brittany for a few years, she immigrated to Canada, planning to marry Arsène Bessette. The marriage did not take place, but Marie Le Franc settled in Quebec and taught in the Montreal region. She wrote two volumes of poetry. Les Voix du cœur et de l'âme was published in 1920, followed in 1923 by Les Voix de misère et d'allégresse. She subsequently published numerous novels and short stories. Her novel, Grand-Louis l'innocent (1925), written during a stay in Brittany, was printed in Canada and won the Prix Fémina de France. Le Franc returned to France in 1929 but visited Canada frequently, finding her inspiration in the Canadian landscape. Her Canadian novels are based on her love of the sea, lakes and forests, and on her admiration for the life of simple people. They include: Hélier: fils des bois (1930), Le Fils de la forêt (1952), and Les Pêcheurs de Gaspésie (1938). She died at the Château du Val in Saint-Germain, France in 1965.

Scope and Content

The Marie Le Franc fonds contains the manuscript of Grand Louis le revenant and other manuscripts and typescripts of short stories, articles and speeches, press clippings, criticisms, photographs and correspondence with authors such as Jean Bruchési, Claude-Henri Grignon, Louvigny de Montigny, Honoré Mercier, Louis Dantin, Victor Barbeau and Adrien Thério, covering the period from 1950 to 1963. The second accession contains 37 letters from Marie Le Franc to Marie de Varennes-Simard, her friend and correspondent, during the period from 1950 to 1963.

Immediate Source of Acquisition: acquired from Ms. Blain Le Franc in 1982. [1982-04, 1982-03]

Language: material in the fonds is in French.

Restrictions: some restrictions.

Finding Aid: preliminary inventory available.

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