41-420: Lionel Groulx (1878 – 1967), was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and Quebec nationalist. Lionel Groulx or Lionel-Groulx may also refer to: Lionel Groulx Lionel Groulx ( French: [ɡʁu] ; 13 January 1878 – 23 May 1967) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest , historian , professor , public intellectual and Quebec nationalist . Lionel Groulx, né Joseph Adolphe Lyonel Groulx,
82-446: A nationalist and joins the fight against Ontario's Regulation 17 to save French language schools in the province. The story begins when Jules de Lantagnac, an Ottawa lawyer of French Quebec origin, visits his Gatineau priest after a pilgrimage to his native childhood village of Saint-Michel . Lantagnac reveals to Father Fabien that his pilgrimage has transformed him: where he was once an anglicized French-Canadian, he has become
123-731: A French Canadian patriot and has sworn to return his family to its French and Catholic roots. The activist priest, Father Fabien, pleased, persuades the lawyer to join the struggle of the Franco-Ontarians against Regulation 17 , the Ontario law aimed at eliminating the teaching of French in schools. When Lantagnac returns to his Anglo-Saxon wife and his four children in Ottawa's Sandy Hill , he informs them of his rediscovery of French-Canadian culture. He takes his family on visits to Quebec and begins teaching them French, struggling with their adherence to
164-643: A Quebec history curriculum that glorified French colonization in Canada , the difficulties imposed upon the Canadiens by the conquest of New France, and how these were countered by lengthy political struggles for democratic rights. He insisted, as had many before him, on the Quebec Act of 1774 as the official recognition of his nation's rights. He bore particular affection for the undertaking of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , that in 1849 successfully restored
205-512: A legendary hero. He has been described as the first French Canadian historian to consider the period of French colonial rule superior to that of the British control that followed it, evaluating the conquest of New France as a disaster rather than the common 19th-century Canadian view of it as a 'blessing' that saved Quebec from the atheist terrors of the French Revolution . He also developed
246-574: A nun; she will spend a few weeks with her father in his home village before this but will spend a few final days with her mother. Lantagnac finds William's room empty as well, with only an unread copy of "L'avenir du peuple canadien-français" (The Future of the French-Canadian People)defaced on the first page with "Rule Britannia for ever." Lantagnac feels alone. Lantagnac's eldest son arrives as well however from Montreal. He asks his father to bless him and announces that like his father, he
287-542: A scandal when his son William, who has stayed at the English Loyola College , participates in a debate and argue in defence of Resolution 17, putting further strain on the Lantagnac family. Wolfred writes to his father a consolation condemning his brother's actions. Lantagnac faces further trouble and pressures at home, but does not relent from his cause. William Duffin, who has become an anti-French activist, devises
328-552: A scheme with government politicians to stop Lantagnac. First, he attempts to persuade Lantagnac that the French struggle is too extreme, and that Lantagnac would do well to play the role of a peacemaker and to avoid speaking in a key debate on 11 May. Second, he arranges to trick Lantagnac into resigning from his employment at the Aitkens Brothers law firm, in the hope that the loss of income would push Lantagnac to accept an "honour" from
369-432: Is "negative and ridiculous," some scholars have downplayed allegations of anti-Semitism against Groulx. In a speech given in 1999, the historian Xavier Gélinas argues that Groulx did not support "racial anti-Semitism," which "confronts Jews for being Jews." While acknowledging the problematic and anti-Semitic nature of Groulx's rhetoric, Gélinas claims that it represents "cultural anti-Semitism" that singles out Jews because of
410-551: Is not only not a Christian solution [to the Jewish problem], it is a solution that is negative and ridiculous." ["L'antisémitisme, non seulement n'est pas une solution chrétienne; c'est une solution négative et niaise"] (trans. Robinson 101) . Apologists for Groulx have cited that quotation. However, the following sentence of the article has Groulx go on to give his unequivocal support to the boycott of Jewish businesses in Quebec : "To resolve
451-441: Is worsened by his wife's veiled threats that his participation in the debate on behalf of the French cause would only lead to their separation. Moved by this, Lantagnac on the eve of the debate asks Father Fabien advice, who, while understanding the pain of his predicament, still urges Lantagnac to participate. Lantagnac, leaving Father Fabien, overhears his elder son's name mentioned by Montreal Francophone university students admiring
SECTION 10
#1732845074311492-572: The Bloc populaire Canadien , led by André Laurendeau . Future Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau was part of this young party, which soon suffered the same fate as the previous third party, the ALN. After the 1948 election, the Bloc populaire Canadien disappeared. Groulx was later remembered both for his strong case in favour of economic reconquest of Quebec by French Canadians, defense of the French language, and pioneer work as
533-713: The Canadian Confederation of 1867 a failure and espoused the theory that French Canada's only hope for survival was to bolster a French State and a Roman Catholic Quebec as the means to emancipate the nation and a bulwark against English power. He believed the powers of the provincial government of Quebec could and should be used, within Confederation, to better the lot of the French Canadian nation, economically, socially, culturally and linguistically. His curriculum and writings de-emphasized or ignored conflicts between
574-530: The Parliament Hill statue of Baldwin and LaFontaine, the "architects of Canada's freedom". He resolves to take part in the debate until later that night he finds his wife faints. The morning of the debate day, Lantagnac attends a moving mass with Virginia attended also by thousands of children who pray and perform communion to save their schools. Lantagnac, who had decided against speaking the debate, goes to Parliament to take his seat, observe and applaud. Until
615-484: The Vichy regime of Philippe Pétain , although public statements to this effect remained rare. Groulx and other intellectuals settled into a partial alliance with Liberal Party of Quebec leader Adelard Godbout , who served as Premier from 1939 to 1944. They soon broke with him on account of his submission to the federal Liberals . Yet in 1944 they opposed Duplessis again, this time placing their hopes in another new party,
656-525: The "principles and customs that they are deemed, rightly or wrongly, to believe in and to practice" and are "opposed to the traditional nationalist vision of Quebec." The Call of the Race The Call of the Race ( L'Appel de la race ) is a book by Québécois priest and historian Lionel Groulx . The plot follows the struggle of Ottawa lawyer Jules de Lanatagnac, an anglicized French-Canadian who becomes
697-503: The 1930s Action liberale nationale (ALN) party, a new party that intellectuals close to Groulx and the defunct Action française appreciated. When Maurice Duplessis 's victory became apparent, some instead accepted to cooperate with his government and its reforms. But Groulx, and with him a large number of intellectuals, chose to oppose him. During the Second World War Groulx, like many Canadien nationalists, spoke in favour of
738-665: The 1950s. Collège Lionel-Groulx , Lionel Groulx Avenue and the Lionel Groulx metro station are named in his honour. In June 2020, in the wake of global anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests, a petition was launched by Montréalers asking the city government to rename the Lionel-Groulx métro station after the African-Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson . Peterson grew up in the Little Burgundy area of Montreal where
779-403: The 1990s against several pre-World War II Quebec intellectuals, including Groulx. In 1933, writing under the pseudonym Jacques Brassier in the article "So That We May Live..." [ Pour qu'on vive... "], published in the journal L'Action nationale [ National Action ], Groulx states his opposition to anti-Semitism. In the section "The Jewish Problem" [ Le problème juif ], he states, "Antisemitism
820-588: The Church's Social doctrine, an official Catholic answer to socio-economic distress that was meant to prevent the appeal of socialism and improve capitalism. Groulx's conservative Catholicism was not very appreciative of other religions, although he also acknowledged that racism was not Christian, and he maintained that Quebec should aspire to be a model society by Christian standards, including intense missionary action. [Le Canada français missionnaire, Montreal, Fides, 1962]. This Catholic social doctrine later became part of
861-453: The French language and French Canadian culture, but also to create a think tank and public space of reflection, so that the French Canadian nation's elites would find ways to remedy French Canada's underdevelopment and exclusion from big business. Some collaborators of the review thus actively participated in the development of the HEC business school. Others were actively involved in the promotion of
SECTION 20
#1732845074311902-501: The Jewish problem, it would suffice if French Canadians regained their common sense. There is no need of extraordinary legislation; no need for violence of any sort. We will only give our people the order, 'Do not buy from the Jews'.... And if by some miracle our order were understood and complied with, then in six months the Jewish problem would be solved, not merely in Montréal but from one end of
943-506: The Parisian dialect, as well as the distaste of his wife Maud, his elder daughter Nellie, and youngest son William. His elder son, Wolfred-André responds more favourably to his father's wishes, pursuing education in French in Montreal , while his younger daughter, Virginia, fully embraces French Canadian nationalism, attending history and language classes at a convent on Rideau Street in Ottawa. In
984-514: The Quebec Act recognized the rights of the Quebec province and its people with respect to French law, Catholic religion and the French language; in 1848, responsible government was finally obtained after decades of struggle, along with the rights of the French language; in 1867, the autonomy of the province of Quebec was restored as Lower Canada was an essential partner in the creation of a new dominion through confederation . Lionel Groulx called
1025-416: The Quebec government could the economic and social inferiority of French Canadians be repaired. Groulx was quite successful promoting his brand of ultramontanism . His main focus was to restore Quebeckers' pride in their identity by knowledge of history, both the heroic acts of New France and the French Canadian and self-government rights obtained through a succession of important political victories: 1774,
1066-484: The Université de Montréal insisted that Groulx sign a paper saying that he would respect Confederation and English-Canadian sensibilities as a condition of receiving a respectable salary for his teaching work. He would not sign, but finally agreed to a condition that he would limit himself to historical studies; he resigned from the editorship of L'action canadienne-française soon after, and the magazine ceased publication at
1107-485: The clergy and those who were struggling for democratic rights, and de-emphasized any conflicts between the "habitants" or peasant class and the French-Canadian elites. He preferred the settled habitants to the more adventurous and, in his view, licentious coureurs des bois . His work, under the pseudonym Lionel Montal , was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics . In 1928,
1148-644: The election and uses his victory to advance the Franco-Ontarian cause, defending French rights in Parliament passionately and serving his constituents with force. He earns the respect of the Francophone community. However, his advocacy of French rights and his part in the struggle worries his in-laws who see him as an agitator and a danger to Anglo-Saxon dominance. His father in law and his wife both confront him and argue against his activism. Soon after, Lantagnac faces
1189-444: The end of the year. Lionel Groulx's major writings include the novel L'Appel de la race (1922); Histoire de la Confédération ; Notre grande aventure (1958); Histoire du Canada français (1951), and Notre maître le passé . In order to inculcate pride in a nation he considered degraded by Conquest, Groulx engaged in national myth-making, celebrating the days of New France as a golden age and elevating Dollard des Ormeaux into
1230-623: The first chair of Canadian history in Quebec (Université de Montréal; see Ronald Rudin, Making History in Twentieth Century Quebec , University of Toronto Press, 1997. ISBN 9780802078384 ). Rudin underscores Groulx's founding role in scholarly History with the development of the Montréal History Department. Groulx founded the Institut d'histoire d'Amérique française in 1946, an institute located in Montreal devoted to
1271-427: The government for financial security in exchange for abstention from his activism. Lantagnac resigns and Duffin takes his place, outraging Virginia, who by this time is an ardent French-Canadian nationalist and devout Catholic. The tension at home begins to take its toll on Lantagnac, who considers abstaining from the debate in spite of its offense to his honour. To justify this he begins to believe Duffin's advice. This
Lionel Groulx (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-517: The historical study of Quebec and of the French presence in the Americas and the publication of La revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française , still today arguably the main publication for professional historians in Quebec. His main intellectual contribution was to create a rapprochement between nationalism and the Catholic religion, blunting the hostility between nationalists and the Church that had existed in
1353-540: The meantime, Lantagnac struggles with developments in the Ontario schools conflict. Inspired by the resignation of a Senator Landry in protest of Regulation 17, and persuaded by Father Fabien, Lantagnac decides to run as an independent candidate in the by-election in the Franco-Ontarian federal elector district of Russell in Eastern Ontario. He reveals this decision to his family during the visit of brother-in-law William Duffin, an Irish-Canadian lawyer who, like Lantagnac,
1394-568: The nineteenth century. Through his writings and teaching at the university and his association with the intellectual elite of Quebec, he had a profound influence on many people (such as Michel Chartrand and Camille Laurin ). However, many of the young intellectuals he influenced often did not share his conservative ideology (such as his successor at the University of Montreal). Groulx's traditionalist, religious form of Québécois nationalism, known as clerico-nationalism , influenced Quebec society into
1435-401: The province to the other" (trans. Robinson 101-102) . Thus, put into context, although he stops short of advocating the legislation of outright anti-Semitic policies and supporting violence against Jews, Groulx supported systemic anti-Semitism by giving French Canadians the "order" to boycott Jewish businesses to solve the "Jewish problem" in Quebec. Citing Groulx's assertion that anti-Semitism
1476-520: The rights of the French language along with the obtention of responsible government, thus thwarting the assimilation plans of Lord Durham 's policy of a union between the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. He received the Royal Society of Canada 's J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal in 1948. Provincial Provincial At the Ligue d'Action française, Groulx and his colleagues hoped to inspire revival of
1517-456: The station is located. A counter petition also circulated, asking Montreal to retain the name, claiming that deleting Groulx's name from the station would be “a consent to amnesia and a reshaping of our past.” The City kept the status quo, assserting that a moratorium on changing station names had been in place since 2006. Accusations of anti-Semitism were made by Canadian author Mordecai Richler and French-Canadian historian Esther Delisle in
1558-401: The very last second he remains determined to not speak, but, hearing the words of French activists, (including Wilfrid Laurier), he is moved to deliver a stirring speech in defence of French schools and culture. The speech however, has its consequences. Maud and Nellie leave, with Maud promising to respect her children's freedom. Virginia tells Lantagnac that she will enter the convent to become
1599-544: Was ordained to the priesthood on 28 June 1903. Groulx was one of the first Quebec historians to study Confederation: he insisted on its recognition of Quebec rights and minority rights, although he believed a combination of corrupt political parties and French Canadian minority status in the Dominion had failed to deliver on those promises, as the Manitoba conflict exposed. Groulx believed that only through national education and
1640-449: Was born in Quebec and fluent in French. Duffin, portrayed by Groulx as thoroughly anglicized and assimilated, passionately defends Resolution 17 in a debate with Virginia, condemning the actions of protest by the Franco-Ontarian community. Lantagnac enters the debate and refutes Duffin's arguments. However, this and his announcement of his candidacy thoroughly distresses Maud and Nellie who continue to embrace Anglo-Saxon rule. Lantagnac wins
1681-636: Was the son of Léon Groulx (1837–1878), a farmer, a lumberjack and direct descendant of New France pioneer Jean Grou , and Philomène Salomé Pilon (1849–1943). Groulx was born and died at Vaudreuil, Quebec . After his seminary training and studies in Europe, he taught at Valleyfield College in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield , and then the Université de Montréal . In 1917 he co-founded a monthly journal called Action Française , becoming its editor in 1920. He